My Heart Pounding Against My Ears
by xoxBattleangel
Summary: Cristina had what she really believed was a normal life. An okay job, a nice apartment, and the occasional duelist. Though, it would never be normal after she finds the twins she was baby-sitting harboring a criminal. The "normal" life just suddenly became different.
1. Chapter 1

I moved my hips side-to-side as I headphones were over my ears, blasting full way. I carried two brown bags and smiled. I am going to make the best food for those two brats. ..Ever since their parents weren't here, I took care of them; made sure they…behaved to a certain limit. I lived next door, but neglected my room. I made it to the room where I heard Leo talking pretty loud; this early in the morning, what now? I haven't seen them for a couple of days, ever since I had to pay my rent, fix my bike, blah, blah, blah… I shook my head in amusement and slipped my keys in the door.

"Guys, I'm coming in!" I shouted before opening the door and saw them hunching over the couch…with wide eyes and wide smiles.

"Hey, Crissy!" They both said as I raised an eyebrow; something is up…I put the brown bags on the counter and crossed my arms, "We haven't seen you in a while-"

"What are you guys up to? If it involves a prank, I am so in." I said as I saw Leo look at Luna as she frowned…Luna's usual outfit is similar to her brother, consisting of a light pink short-sleeved jacket over a long-sleeved red shirt with golden markings. She also wears light purple shorts with a red belt and sneakers with black and pink markings and high socks. She has gray-gold eyes just like her brother. She has the ability to communicate with Duel Monsters after having spent ample time with Duel Spirits in a different dimension during her coma. Much to her brother Leo's irritation, she tends to candidly point out the various flaws in his plans, but does deeply care for him.

Leo's outfit is similar to his sister's; it consists of a short-sleeved white jacket over a sleeveless dark blue shirt with golden markings that differ from Luna's shirt. He also wears white shorts with a dark blue belt and blue sneakers of the same color. Leo also has a bracelet on each wrist, and his blue-green hair is pulled into a single, high ponytail with two shoulder-length bangs on both sides of his face but when he doesn't wear it up (like when he's sleeping) it looks like Luna's in the same situation.

"Well, thing is…" Leo stopped as I stared oddly at the hair sticking from the couch. I walked over with in a fast pace and glared. The man did nothing, but looked back, "Busted…"

"If someone doesn't explain what is going on…I will get my butcher knife." I threatened as Leo hid behind Luna, "Do you even know who this man is?" I looked at him and after a minute, I came with a conclusion, he's pretty cute. He has black hair with gold highlights and blue eyes. The upper layer of his hair points upward while the lower layer points down, a sleeveless black shirt with a red symbol, a jagged criminal marker on the left side of his face…Oh, not only he is a criminal, but he is cute…

"Okay, on Monday, me and Luna were watching TV and I wanted a bowl of ice cream, but Luna was all like-"

"She meant what happened with him, idiot." Luna said and looked at me, "We found him in the alley last night, downstairs-"

"He wrecked his bike-"

"He wouldn't wake up for a while-"

"So we brought him up here!"

"He was heavy!" Luna said as I smirked and looked away. Leo finished as I rubbed my temples… "Sorry."

"No, no, I would have done the same thing…let's just hope you were being discreet and didn't let anyone see you." I said as Leo gave me a high-five, "Good job…Did you guys already intro-"

"Oh, not yet! I'm Lenard, but PLEASE call me Leo." Leo said, pointing to himself, "This is my sister, Luna…we're twins, in case you haven't notice; not identical twins, obviously. She's a she and I'm a he…" The stranger reached for the deck that was on the table maybe that is his. I wished I could have looked through it. " Oh! This is our totally, awesome, kicking butt, babysitter, and friend, Cristina Yumeko Witen…" Did he really have to tell him my whole name? "So, uh…Mister…what's your name?"

He looked at all of us before looking at Leo and said, "I have no idea."

"Then you must have hit your head pretty hard to get amnesia…No blood, so you're fine…" I said and looked at the twins, "Oh, next time…call me BEFORE you decide to take another stranger in….No offense." I quickly said the last part to…Amnesia man and walked back into the kitchen… I saw him shrug and I smiled. "Are you guys hungry-"

"YES!" They both yelled as I chuckled, "How about you…Amnesia guy?"

"Amnesia guy?" He questioned as Leo and Luna snickered.

"What else am I suppose to call you?" I said and he made no comment; good, "Are you hungry?"

"No, thanks…" I heard his stomach growl and his cheeks go a little pink, "On second thought, I am." I grinned and hopped to it…I got out shrimp, salt, red pepper, olive oil, onions, tomatoes, white wine, garlic, oregano leaves, Italian parsley, Basil leaves and a pan.

"I never met anyone with Amnesia before…" Leo stated as Amnesia man looked around the apartment.

"Where are we?" He asked as I resisted the urge to roll my eyes; forgot that he had Amnesia…Calm down Cristina…

"Check this out." Leo said and waved his hand as the shades started to open. I love technology…even though it makes me fat.

"Leo, just answer his question and tell him where we are!" Luna complained as Leo ignored her.

"Cool, huh? It's on a motion sensor. We've also got-"

"This is our apartment in the area called the Tops." Luna said as I put my hands on the counter and stared at the view.

"Nice huh? It's the best place in New Domino city; only super rich people can live here." Leo said with a smirk.

"Leo!" Luna scolded, being the sweet, complete opposite twin.

"How'd I end up in that alley way?" Amnesia man asked as if we would know.

"Not sure…but the food will be ready in a couple of minutes." I said and turned on the oven.

We all ate as Luna and Leo started to talk to Amnesia man as I added in a couple of things here and there… There was something off about him…I just have a gut feeling about that. We then searched for his clothes and gave it to him and he put it on.

"There you go…does that help any?" I asked as he fumbled with his jacket and gloves; it suits him. He just grunted in response.

"Now that you got your jacket on, take a deep breath and say 'My name is…' and then…say your name." Leo said as I raised an eyebrow.

"I am doubting this idea…again." I said to Leo as he ignored me.

"He's tried that ten times!" Luna said, obviously annoyed with her brother ignorance, "It is obviously not working, Leo!"

"Well, it worked on TV, right Crissy?" Leo asked as I pouted as sighed.

"It's TV, Leo…I don't know what you watch…" I said as he turned to his sister.

"There was this guy on this show one time; he was helping people remember things they forgot like where they left their keys and stuff." Leo said and Amnesia man looked over his shoulder and saw that…_**revolting**_ pictures and action figures of…Jack Atlas. He can jump off a bridge and go di-"Hey, what'cha looking at?"

"Those…" Please tell me that he ISN'T a fan!

"Huh? Oh! That's my shrine." Leo said as his eyes brightened, "Jack Atlas is like my all time hero. He's the greatest; no one can beat him in a turbo duel! And one day, I'm gonna be the champ, just like Jack!" I let out a small growl and glared at the window, "Crissy doesn't like him at all thought, saying he seems like a jerk, but he's not! Don't listen to her!"

"You can't even ride a normal bike." Luna informed us as I smiled a little.

"I stayed up for 12 seconds last time I tried! Anyways, does Jack Atlas mean anything to you?" Leo asked to Amnesia man, going from annoyed to happy.

"Yeah, but I don't know why…" He said as I looked at him curious…useless information. Either you love or hate him.

"Maybe you're a fan of his too, or maybe you wanted to duel him! You are a turbo duelist." Leo said, putting his hands behind his back.

"How'd you know that?" Amnesia man asked in genuine confusion.

"Uh…because we found you next to that duel runner." Leo said, pointing to the corner…How come I never saw that? I walked over to it and whistled.

"It looks very nice…seems fast and sturdy." I said, examining it.

"Crissy has a duel runner too, but it's so much awesome if you saw it!" Leo said as I shook my head, "Aw, why not-"

"I'm doing touch ups and upgrading it, not to mention that I'm changing the color of it." I said and gave a quick smile, "Sorry."

"No worries." Amnesia man said and walked over to my side and looked at the bike.

"Am I right about you?" Leo asked in an exciting tone, "Are you a big time duelist who is in town to duel Jack?"

"I don't think I am a big time anything." Amnesia man (A.M) said and touched the bike.

"Maybe you should try hypnotizing him, Leo." Luna said in a sarcastic tone that made me giggle. He frowned before running towards me and grabbing my hand and dragging me to the 'Jack Atlas' shrine, let me go, grabbed a white envelope, and handed it to A.M.

"Mister, maybe you have one of these." Leo said, holding up the envelope, "I'll take it out, you tell me if it looks familiar."

"Okay." A.M said, not really have any other choice. Leo showed him the message, well, a picture of a golden trophy.

"Well, does this ring any bell?" Leo asked as A.M took it.

"The fortune cup?" A.M asked as Leo nodded quickly.

"Yeah! It's this big tournament between a bunch of people Kaiba corp. randomly selected; it's gonna be huge! And hey, hey, get this! They selected me; I'm gonna be in the-"

"Actually…they selected me and Cristina here." Luna said as Leo growled and glared at his sister.

"Technically, they selected her, but she's too scared to enter so I am going to pretend to be her, and enter and then win that thing." Leo said, but then he got a fearful expression, "Unless I go against Crissy…That would be a disaster!"

"No one is going to believe that you're me, Leo." Luna said as Leo growled and ran over to his sister.

"Why wouldn't they believe that I'm you; we're twins, we looked like each other!" Leo argued as I sighed and crossed my arms.

"You're in this tournament too?" A.M asked me as I got startled…I never really…spoke to him.

"Yeah, I didn't sign up for it and it's going to be a complete waste of my time, but…I don't mind, whatever to relieve stress." I said with a shrug and looked back at the twins.

"Thank you…" He said as I raised an eyebrow and looked at him, "For the food-"

"No need for thanks, I like cooking. Besides, you don't look like a bad fellow or else I would have chopped you to pieces." I said with a smile as it was his turn to raise an eyebrow.

"…I'm pretty-"

"I'll wear make-up, Crissy will help me!" Leo said as I gave him thumbs up, "Aha! She said she will too!"

"Leo wears make-up, Leo wears make-up-"

"You know what I think, Luna? You're jealous." Leo said, crossing his arms with a smirk.

"Why are we even arguing about this…We still have a bad guy in our house." Luna whispered to Leo. That made Leo mad.

"You don't even know for sure if he's a bad guy, Luna! Maybe he was framed for a crime he didn't commit. That happens you know; I saw it on TV!" Leo argued as I sighed; I should limit TV watching for him.

"Um…he's still in the room." Luna said, stating the obvious. Leo looked dumb folded and looked at him.

"Thanks for trying to help me and everything, but this fortune cup thing isn't ringing any bells." A.M said and threw the card as it hit the action figure and landed exactly where Leo left it…are you serious? I couldn't even do that! "I should get out of here."

"Where are you going?" I asked in a curious tone and saw Leo's face saddened and it made me sad too.

"I shouldn't trouble you guys anymore." A.M said and pressed a button on the door so it would open.

"But you still don't know who you are!" Leo protested, going by my side. I thought of something and whispered something in his ear. He brighten immediately, "I got it!" He went into the closet as I smiled; never giving up.

"Just let him go, Leo." Luna said and looked at me for back up. I smiled and shrugged my shoulders.

"No wait! Just…ahh… all right!" He said and showed me the dueling disk. I slowly clapped as he stuck his tongue out. He ran up to A.M. "Before you go Mister, I've got one more idea…I challenge you to a duel Mr. Mystery Amnesia Man!"

"He's got more important things to do-" I cut off Luna.

"Actually…I think it might work…Being an environment that seems most like the person is able to trigger the memory response…Try it." I said with a smile

"See, Luna? This could help him! Crissy agrees and I saw it on TV once! Jack Atlas was giving an interview and Jack said 'Duelist duels feels who he really is.' So if you duel, you might remember who you are!" Leo explained as I dead panned; that's what I said.

"I see no harm…you have Amnesia and I doubt that you remember anything." I told A.M.

"Come on, come on! Let's duel!" Leo cheered as I giggled as the Duel disk slid up his arm, "Dumb thing never stays on right… This is embarrassing…" I smiled and helped Leo. "Just give me a second, I'll fix it up and we'll be good to go!" I saw the slightest smile on A.M's mouth and it made me smile a little. "Hang on, I gotta jib with the thing, but then…-"

"I think you reminded me of somebody." A.M said, "I don't know who, but…this might be good, lets do this."

"You mean it?" Leo said as I ruffled his hair. He never really dueled with anyone except me, his other friend, or Luna. He pressed a button on the runner and it unlocked his duel disk, "Sweet! Good thing you remembered how to do that…Oh man! I'm going to show you moves you never seen before!" His duel disk messed up before of his quick hand movements…

"I'm…not helping you with that again…"


	2. Chapter 2

We went to the pool edge as I took off my boots and dipped my feet into the pool. Leo…still having problems with his disk. And he kept moving it.

"Let me help." A.M. said and crouched down to Leo's level, "So…where are your parents?"

"They are on a really important business trip!" Leo said with a smile.

"There _always _on business trips, but we luckily have Cristina as our babysitter and not some mean old lady." Luna said as I smiled at her.

"Crissy is in charge of us with tutors that come every now and then, and mostly-"

"You don't remember who you are, but you remember how to duel?" I asked in a disbelieving tone.

"Luna doesn't understand that our parents aren't around is the coolest." Leo said as I closed my eyes and then opened them.

"I see." A.M said in an amusing tone, "Well, how's that?" Leo started to wave his hand in the air.

"Uh…it's perfect! Thanks Mr. Amnesia Man!" Leo said as I smiled; that is my word.

"What do you say? You ready to duel?" A.M asked, "You can have the first turn." He walked a few feet away from Leo.

"Yeah!" Leo said, thinking he has the upper hand. I got my feet out of the water, grabbed my boots, and sat next to Luna.

"I should warn you, my deck rules." Leo said as his duel disk activated.

"I'm sure it does." A.M said and activated his.

"Here we go!"Leo said.

"LET'S DUEL!" They both said

_~~(Ending of Duel( I cannot write those scenes)~~_

* * *

><p>"I sure hope the amazing Leo is ready for amazing move by my Nitro Warrior." He said as A.M destroyed one of Leo's cell phone monsters. Leo's LP went down to 2000.<p>

"The crowd is not liking this." Leo said as I smirked, "Don't smirk, Crissy!"

"The crowd definitely won't like Nitro's special ability… See, when it destroys a monster in battle, it can switch one of your monsters from defense mode into attack mode, and then it can battle against that monster." A.M said as I smiled; he is really good. Leo had a moment of dumbness, "So I'm switching your Cell-Fan back to attack mode!" Cell-Fan only had 1000 attack point…not good

"No way!" Leo complained as I shook my head.

"Sorry, but yes way." A.M said, "Nitro warrior…attack Cell-Fan with Dynamite Crunch…!" Nitro Warrior _crushed_ Cell-Fan as Leo yelled. I soon realize that his points went to 0. Luna stared at her brother as I looked at A.M…he's really good. I looked over and saw Leo with a sad expression.

"Leo…" Luna said, walking to her brother, "Don't cry when you lose…"

"I'm not crying!" He yelled, rubbing his eyes. I walked over to his and crouched to his level.

"Yeah, don't be upset. Dueling with you helped me to remember who I really am…So thanks for helping me getting my memory back…So how about I give you a couple of pointers for helping me out" A.M said and he was being genuine about it. Leo looked in shocked and I couldn't help, but laugh. "See, you're a really good duelist, but by spending all your time and energy getting your monsters or where you wanted them to be, you didn't leave room to anticipate any counter attacks. You're Morph-tronic monsters can adapt, now you just need to learn how to do the same. Jack Atlas certainly can." Leo looked down, but Luna put a hand on his shoulder.

"I thought you did really good, Leo." Luna said

"Also, the last time I saw you, you weren't like this…you really improved, so I'm happy too." I said and kissed his cheek as he blushed bright red.

"So…are you going to tell us who you are?" Leo asked in excitement…I really do want to know his name…

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea right now." He said and walked away.

"Oh, come on!" Leo complained, "Pleeeease?"

"You see this marker?" A.M asked, pointing to the yellow streak on his face, "Trust me, the less you know about me, the safer you will be." I am STILL curious.

"Come one, if I don't know who you are, then how can I be your friend?" Leo asked, pointing at himself.

"I think that's kinda the point, Leo. He's saying he can't be our friend." Luna said with a small pout.

"Yes he can!" Leo argued as I sensed another fight coming…

"At least crash with us for the night, Mister; it's getting late." Luna suggested as I looked at A.M

"Yeah, that would be awesome! So can you, Crissy!" Leo said as I rolled my eyes, "And then maybe in the morning, Crissy can make us breakfast and you tell us who you are!"

"Leo!" Luna and I scolded.

"What?" He asked.

"Yes, let me sleep over your apartment when my apartment is right next to yours." I said in a sarcastic manner, "And I think you can cook your own breakfast…"

* * *

><p>I was in my over fitting shirt and long pants and got up. I went to my refrigerator and got out a container of leftovers. I slipped on my socks and exited my room. I went to Leo and Luna's apartment, used the spare key, and was surprised when I saw A.M awake with the light on.<p>

"Uh…hey." I said as he looked over his shoulder.

"Hey, what are you doing up so late?" He asked as I leaned against the kitchen counter.

"I could ask the same thing." I said and went over to him…I saw Luna and Leo's duel disk, and plenty of screwdrivers, "Some sort of goodbye present?"

"You can say that. My way of saying thanks for you guys helping me." He said as I rolled my eyes.

"Don't thank me, Leo was the main reason." I said as he cracked a small smile, "You're leaving, right?"

"Yeah…how did you know-"

"Call it female intuition." I said as he put his jacket on and turned off the light, "But wait, before you go…" I handed him the leftover food and handed it to him, "Fast food is junk anyways."

"Thanks a lot." He said as I shrugged, "What now?"

"Well, I'll walk you right out of the door, make sure you don't steal anything, and bid you a goodbye." I said with a shrug, "I'm not taking no for an answer or I REALLY will get my butcher knife."

He chuckled a little and nodded before saying, "You and your butcher knife."

"What can I say, it gets the point across." I said and uncovered his bike. He started to roll it out of the room as I shut the door behind us. We both went into the elevator with a comfortable silence. We were on the 47th floor.

"I hate to duel and dash, but it's for their own good…if I stick around here, you guys will only get trouble." He said as I sucked through my teeth.

"Please…my name can cause problems; I think that's more trouble than it is, Amnesia Man." I teased as he smiled.

"Tell me more about yourself." He suggested as I smiled.

"Lets see….My name is Cristina Yumeko Witen…I'm 18 years old, employed at a restaurant as a pastry chef…I like dueling, most of my cards are Pyro, thus why many people call me Pyro-girl. I take care of Luna and Leo…I have my own duel runner and apartment…I like to…tease people, like police, hobby of mine…My dream is to be the Queen of Dueling, or win that tournament…and skydive." I said to him as he nodded. The elevator opened with a beeping sound as we exited. He went onto his duel runner and activate it.

"It was nice meeting you-"

"Yusei…" He said as I raised an eyebrow, "That's my name…Please don't tell the kids-"

"My lips are sealed." I said and walked over to him, "Don't forget us."

"Trust me, I won't." He said as I smirked.

"But…just for a precaution." I said and leaned down to give him a peck on his cheek, "Don't forget that." He blushed a light pink and I laughed. "See ya, Yusei." He turned his bike out, and burned out… Lets go back to sleep with happy dreams! I hummed lightly to myself and went back into the elevator.

* * *

><p>I drove down the streets of Domino city, finally remembering who I am and why I came here for… I lifted my hand to my left cheek and blushed a little; that was…unexpected. I got a little startled when a bike was in front of me. Don't tell me that its Trudge…Oh, it is.<p>

"I was starting to think that you didn't like me!" Trudge mocked as I grunted in displeasure. He moved his bike to block my path. I skidded as I tried to slow down my bike.

"I'm going to take you in, Yusei." Trudge said with his leering grin, "So, you going to come in quietly…?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, revved my engine and turned around.

"That is what I hoping you would-" Bright car lights blinded us, "What the?" A car door open and a man walked toward us…He looked like…a clown. A short, effeminate man who wears red lipstick and has light purple hair. He dresses in an opulent red costume with a black collar and gold trim.

"Officer Trudge…aren't you suppose to be guarding the 'Candles & Calenders Keyas' at the outer rim mall?" He asked as Trudge growled.

"I didn't get your name, short stack!" Trudge barked back at…clown face.

"I'm special deputy, Lazar." He said, taking out a card with his face on it; ID actually, "I work for the directed general, and I outrank you; sorry." He then laughed…very strangely.

"How come I never heard of you?" Trudge demanded with a shock look; that's a first.

"I'm on official business, officer Trudge. I would advise you to leave the area immediately-"

"This bug is a menace; he stole that duel runner from the ambassador center, he-"

"OFFICER! There is very little room in this city for street beat cops who don't know their place or when to shut their mouths." Lazar said as I saw Trudge shake with anger.

"So what official 'business' are you on?" I questioned as he reached into the inner pocket of his jacket.

"A delivery," He said, handing me an envelope, "For a Mr. Yusei Fudo." I opened the envelope and my wide went wide in shock. It was a picture of the gang...how? "We would like you to participate in the fortune cup…if you refuse, the people you see in that photograph will pay the penalty for the rouge actions you took in the taking that runner." He walked away, "Oh, and I can get more people added onto that list…Have a good evening." I crushed the invitation and glared at the retreating form of the car.

* * *

><p>I walked into the twins' apartment with a smile, "Good morning-"<p>

"He's gone! Leo shouted as I raised an eyebrow, "No, no, no, no, no!"

"Tooth fairy forgot to visit you?" I asked as I saw Luna walking down the steps, "Good morning Luna."

"Luna, Crissy! He took his rider and left!" Leo yelled as I smirked and went to get eggs out.

"Well, did he leave a note or something?" Luna asked as I thought about it…nah, he didn't.

"No!" Leo yelled as I put oil in the pan. Luna saw the table where their duel disks were and walked over to it, "This is all your fault! She should've have been nicer like Crissy! He was going to teach me how to be the best duelist ever-"

"Leo, calm down." I shouted and cracked eggs in the pan.

"Look at these." Luna said, picking up her duel disk.

"Woah, what did he do to them?" Leo asked as I smiled, "It fits now."

"He fixed them. I was surprised myself; didn't see him as a…repair person." I said to them.

"Crissy, do you know why he went?" Leo asked as I smirked and went back to the eggs, "Your hiding something and I know it!"

"I just wish that we knew who he was so we can thank him." Luna said as I sighed; I don't need a guilt trip.

"Well it's his fault for not telling us his name." Leo argued as Luna looked outside, "I mean, he had Amnesia and we helped him. If he wanted to thank us, he would've stayed."

"I guess so, but why no goodbye?" Luna asked as I sighed and put out two plates, "Maybe he wonders the city streets and helps out struggling duelist…kind of like a knight in shining armor, but with a deck." Ooh! I LIKE THAT IDEA!

"Enough chit-chat, I made breakfast." I said to the both of them as they put their duel disks back and ran towards me.


	3. Chapter 3

I was walking with Leo and his friend, Dexter who wanted to take on the Black Rose. We've been walking around for the whole day. Psh, I can take on that phooey anytime! Best female duelist my butt; I am! I walked with them and sighed as Leo went to bother some old fart. I looked around until I saw….spiky hair, jacket, stranger-danger, Yusei! I walked over to them in confident strides.

"Well, Amnesia Man, you know how to make quick friends." I joked as I saw three other people surrounding him.

"Hey, I never thought I would see you here." Yusei said as I shrugged.

"Leo and thing wanted to find this person to duel…Who are those guys?" I asked, referring to the people around.

"Oh, this is Tenzen Yanagi," Yusei motioned to the old man with a gold tooth and white hair, "Bolt Tanner," The tall guy that was a little dark skinned. He had spiked up...dark turquoise hair…he also winked at me, which made me glare. "And Blister." Small moustache, weird hair, and…it looked like cowboy clothing to me. "Guys, this is-"

"Look, over here! Dexter, look! It's the superhero who fixed me and my sister's disks!" Leo yelled before coming towards me, "You didn't tell me!"

"Sorry, slipped my mind." I said, looking at the sky. I saw Dexter sigh before following Leo.

"So, what's up?" Leo asked as I crossed my arms and looked at the two.

"What are you guys doing here? Cristina said you guys were looking for someone to duel." Yusei said as I smiled; finally, someone calls me by my whole name! "This is a dangerous place for you guys and… girl. Where's your sister?"

"Sexist." I sang and twirled in a circle, "I can kick any man's butt to Jupiter…I have my butcher knife."

"She didn't want to come." Leo said as Dexter catched up and gasped at the mark on Yusei's face.

"Yes, Dexter, he's a criminal, get over it." I said with a shrug.

"Leo, I don't think this guy is a superhero." Dexter whispered, "Check his face."

"That's his secret identity." Leo whispered back, "Crissy knows it!"

"What are you too doing here?" Yanagi asked with a smile, startling Dexter.

"We've been looking around for the Black Rose." Leo said in a happy manner.

"Oh, Cristina and Leo helped me get my memory back." Yusei said, telling his…older friends, "They're cool."

"Yes, I'm cool." Leo said as I chuckled, "And this guy is my best friend. He's Dexter."

"Umm…hello." Dexter said in a nervous tone.

"That guy is the best! He does this combo like whoa! You should definitely duel him…! How about you duel him Crissy! You have your duel disk and your deck." Leo suggested as I smiled and shook my head.

"I rather kick this Black Rose's butt first, but don't worry; you're next on my list." I said in a sweet manner to Yusei. He smiled and looked back to Leo in his…same gaze that makes Dexter scared.

"Maybe some other time." Dexter suggested as I ruffled his hair, "Look at that!" Dexter said as Leo shivered in excitement. I looked at Yusei's hand and looked at it. I grabbed his hand and grabbed the invitation.

"Look at that." I said and put it down by his side as his face went a little pink and stern, "Kind of…weird how you got an invitation AFTER you got your memory back."

"That just means he's awesome." Leo argued, "That means he'll be there too!"

"Uh-huh." Yusei agreed as Leo cheered.

"I'll get to duel you! I'll get to duel you and Crissy, then Jack Atlas, THEN I will be the winner." Leo said as I rolled my eyes; whatever floats your boat.

"So much confidence in that little body of yours." I teased as Leo glared with his cheeks puffed out.

"Be quiet, Pyro-lady." My eyebrow twitched as I grabbed his cheeks and squeezed them painfully, "Ow, ow! Stop that! Oh! And when I win, maybe he'll be my sidekick like in all those comic books!"

"Yeah…" Dexter said as I rolled my eyes. But then my left arm started to hurt and I went on my knees, clutching my left arm…the mark…it's hurting again. I moaned in pain as I closed my eyes. I heard someone grunting in pain, and it was Yusei; does he have a mark too?

"Cristina/Yusei!" Shouts were heard around us, "What's wrong?/I'll let you win!/ What happened?"

"It hurts…just like before." I said between the pain…God, I need to knife someone right now!

"When it first appeared….the crimson dragon." Yusei said as I gasped in shock. Was it that thing a couple of days ago, that red streak from the stadium? Then we heard another noise from the distance.

"Lets go!" Dexter said, thinking rational.

"Wait, something's happening." Leo said, thinking irrational. I looked up and saw crowds of people running away. It looked like a tornado a few feet away from us.

"The-the Black Rose?" Yanagi questioned in fear. I felt the pain getting stronge and black spots in my vision, but I shook it away.

"They said she's a myth." Blister said in disbelief.

"Oh yeah? Does this look like a myth to you?" I demanded, glaring at the tornado thingy.

"There has to be a reasonable explanation here." Blister said, being the…idiot he is. Suddenly, the ground cracked as vines appeared, heading straight towards us. I felt a hand wrapped around me as we were tossed in the air. I was in the arms of someone…There hands were around the crook my legs and waist…First thought comes to mind; Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill-

"Hey, are you hurt?" Yusei asked as I opened my eyes…blue eyes…uhh…avoid, avoid, avoid, avoid, avoid-

"I'm not hurt, except for the searing pain in my arm." I said as he put my down and I got use to the pain; no pain, no gain… I looked up in shock at the dragon, "What is that?"

"Who's dragon is that?" Yusei asked as I ignored him; it has to be the Black Roses' "If your clutching in pain, Cristina-"

"Yeah, I have a weird mark on my arm too." I said as he put his glove down to see his tattoo glowling. Thank god my sleeve thing is dark.

"My mark." Yusei gasped as everyone crowded, except…oh no!

"Leo!" I called out, getting up, ignoring the pain and going to the other side, seeing Dexter and Leo knocked out, "Leo, are you okay? Please wake up." I put his head in my lap, biting my lip to stop myself from crying. He woke up and got out of my lap and looked at Yusei's tattoo; Dexter got up too.

"Mark of the dragon." Leo said in awe…He must have remembered…Luna's mark. Suddenly, a bright light appeared as a figure showed and I growled dangerously and ran at it. Yusei suddenly followed me.

"Hey, come back!" Leo called out as I felt my heart clenched; I'm sorry Leo. I stopped as I saw the figure…Black Rose. My glared hardened as I went into my pouch to get a small knife…don't ask. Leo appeared by my side, holding my hand.

"Black Rose?" Yusei asked as I looked at Leo.

"I think, but be careful-" Yusei stopped him with his hand. The others started to catch up.

"Okay, she's not made up, now what grandpa?" Blister asked Yanagi.

"I don't know!" Yanagi asked, hiding behind me. This 'Black Rose' had a mask on, and hair streaming down her face…Just let me attack her…I faintly heard her gasp…So, she can probsbly talk.

"You're arm! You also have a mark!" She yelled as Yusei stared at his mark; no way I'm telling her that I have a mark.

"I do." He said and walked towards her as I trailed behind him, READY to test my aim at her head.

"Get away from me!" She yelled and played a card as bright light surrounded her. I held my stance and covered my eyes. Yusei went on one knee, Dexter and Leo fell down, Yanagi, Blister, and Tanner stood their stance. As the light faded, she was gone.

"She's gone." Tanner said as I sighed.

"Amazing." Yanagi said as I rubbed my arm, "That's what I call am exit for the ages! What do you think her encore look like-"

"To be honest, I don't care. I was about to throw a knife at her." I said as they stared at me in shock, "Why do you look so surprised Leo! I told you I carry knives around; thanks to my dad."

"We found her, the Black Rose." Dexter said, clutching onto Leo.

"That was so awesome!" Leo said as I sighed; boys will be boys.

"The Black Rose said you also had a mark." Blister said as I rolled my eyes, "What did she mean by that?"

"If I had to guess…I think she has a mark too." I said with a shrug, "Who knows…"

"Hey, your mark is one, where'd it go?" Leo asked as there was no more mark.

"Your lucky that your mark fades away fast, mine doesn't." I said, pulling my sleeve down and showing them the mark covering almost my entire left arm.

"Woah! I never saw it." Leo said as I smiled.

"That is why I wear this thing." I said and pulling my sleeve back up.

"It vanished, like magic!" Yanagi exclaimed and I really don't like him no more…

"I know, I have to find this Black Rose!" He said as I put my hands on my hips.

"Well, you aren't doing this alone." I said as he gave me a look.

"I don't know, you might get hurt and it will be dangerous-"

"I talk about Butcher knives, I have knives in my pouch, I can kill you in 5 different ways, and…my nickname is pyro-girl, so if anything, _you_ might get hurt." I said, crossing my arms as he smiled before he gave me a confused look.

"You…keep knives in your pouch?"

"Oh…yeah…"


	4. Chapter 4

The day of the Fortune cup and I was ready to make people cry- I mean lose….yeah, cry. I made sure the ponytail was tight on Leo and smiled…then cracked up. I held onto Tanner for support.

"I am going to laugh…you look so…" I started to laugh again and wiped a tear away, "Okay, I'm done."

"So, how do I look?" Leo asked, dressing up as his sister. Luna was wearing a long jacket and covered herself up.

"Leo, you're as good as Luna." Yanagi as I gasped; is he kidding?

"Yahoo!" Leo cheered, not being anything like Luna, but she kicked him, "Ow!"

"Don't embarrass me!" Luna said, her cheeks flushing.

"Come on, Luna. Just chill out." Leo said, waving his hand, "I'm about to make you a dueling legend." He walked next to me and Yusei, "What do you say, Mr. Amnesia man, Crissy? Ready?"

"Yeah, but I say the make-up should go." Yusei said as I smiled

"Okay, but if you only tell me your name." Leo said as I smiled.

"…You'll find out soon enough." He said as I rolled my eyes.

"… If I duel you, Yusei." I whispered and chuckled, "Let's just hope it won't come to that."

"Don't tell me you think you can beat me." He said as I smirked.

"What can I say? I am full of surprises; just good luck."I said and leaned over and kissed his cheek, "That is for good luck." He blushed and looked away; this is way too fun! We were on a platform that were suppose to be on, but we could fully hear the crowds and announcer

"Duelist, young and all, professional and amateurs alike. Out your hands together for our master of ceremonies; director Rex Goodwin!" The announcer said as everyone cheered and I rocked on my heels.

"R-E-X; Rex!" The cheerleaders…cheered before stopping as wind was being blown forcefully. A tornado appeared, not another one, and a dragon appeared.

"Ladies and Gentleman, Red Dragon Arch Fiend has taken to the sky! You know what that means? Lets here it for the reigning champion, the king of the cards, the one man who rules the duel-"

"GET ON WITH IT!" I yelled, earning few stares from the opponents.

"JACK ATLAS!" The announcer finally said as 'Jacky' came on his white duel runner, doing some moves as I scoffed. He landed next to his Arch Fiend dragon. The crowd cheered louder.

"New Domino city! What say we kick this tournament into overdrive!" 'Jacky' said as I resisted the urge to vomit…So cliché! "Lets get this started!"

"It's time we meet the contestants that were selected to compete for the chance to go head to head with Mr. Atlas! The Fortune 10!" The announcer said as the platform started to rise and I took a deep breath.

"Here we go…" I muttered, ruffling Leo's hair, "Good luck, kiddo."

"W-whoa! Look at all the people!" Leo said. I didn't care about them…I cared about the people I am facing… a creepy guy in a cloak, guy in gold armor, guy practically showing his abs, Yusei, Leo, girl in red, me, guy in a robe, guy in suit, and girl in a dress…I hate her, I just do! Oh yeah…6 more other people. So…16 in total.

"Now, let's hear it for the always mysterious Shira!" creepy guy in cloak, "The great Greiger!" Guy showing abs, "Commander Koda." Guy in suit, "The professor." Guy in robe, "Miss Akiza Izniski!" girl in red, "Gill Randsborg" guy in gold armor, "The Pretty Jennifer Hareun!" girl in dress, "The Lovely Luna," Leo giving a peace sign, "The gorgeous Cristina Witen" I gave a small wave and wink. The gorgeous Cristina? I like the sound of that~. He said more names, but the others looked like…not the top-notch people you would think to be in this competition…But I am in this so I shouldn't be compleaning. "And Yusei Fudo!" He did nothing, but kept his gaze. The crowd started question very rudely. Ooh, those bastards! Oops, pardon my language.

"Huh? So your name is Yusei?" Leo asked as Yusei closed his eyes.

"Yep, now don't wear it out." Yusei said as I smiled

"That's not much of a superhero name." Leo said as I rolled my eyes; he's still on that?

"Super-what?"

"Nevermind." Leo said.

"Lose the loser! Lose the loser!" The crowd chanted, making me angry.

"That's it." I shouted and walked over to the announcer.

"What are you doin?" Leo asked

"Give me that microphone; you're obviously doing a bad job!" I shouted, and snatched it away from his hands, "I have to say something so…SHUT YOUR MOUTHS!" Everyone was quiet…good~ "My name is Cristina Y. Witen. I know things are good in this city, but where I was born and raised until moving here, you judge a person on their spirit. Yusei…" pointing at Yusei, "may have been branded as a criminal, but when I look at him, all I see is a strong duelist." _And cute_. "Being a duelist myself…that means I have to respect him until he gives me a reason not to and cut him down." _With my knives_, "Because a duelist doesn't judge another duelist based on where they comes from, or who their families are, or how much money they have! That isn't what really matters! If you don't like what I say, leave or I'll cut you down!" I finished and walked back and threw the microphone at the announcer and went back to my place, but gave a strange look to Leo as there were literally sparkles in his eyes. I went in between Leo and Yusei and closed my eyes. Feels good to threaten people… Goodwin slowly clapped and so did everyone else. I jutted my lips out and blushed lightly before rubbing the back of my head. I didn't even bother to bow at Goodwin; I really thought he was a creep.

"Thank you for those well-chosen and heartfelt words. Our world's social status and personal wealth draw a line between ourselves and our fellow duelists. I had a vision of a duel tournament that if only for a fleeting while will remove that factor…a tournament separate from the competition of life, where the haves and have-nots could meet each other on a level playing field, and prove themselves to each other and to the world…Fellow Duelist, welcome to the Fourtne Cup!" Goodwin preached as everyone cheered.

"And now, lets turn to the bracket schuffler! Lets find out who's dueling who!" Announcer said as I looked up. Greiger vs. Leo, Shira vs. Yusei, Gill vs. Akiza, Professor vs. Koda, Jennifer vs. me, Sayri vs. Zeke, Antony vs. Ryu, and Ronda vs. Mike… This will be a long day.

I sat next to Leo, and across my Yusei on this blue couch. I overlapped my legs and crossed my arms

"This duel disk you fixed for me rocks!" Leo exclaimed as Yusei did a small smile.

"I'm glad you like it." Yusei replied as I unlatched mines and sighed, "Something wrong?"

"Completely wrong; if I ever race a person who has a duel runner; I'm screwed…My… 'repair man' is taking far too long…I gotta call him right soon if I make it to the semi-finals."

"What makes you so sure that you will?" Leo asked as I smirked.

"Psh, I can take this all the way to 'Jacky'…god, that…I hate him…I'm going to butcher him, that's the only solution." I said, going completely off topic as the others sweat-dropped.

"I can't believe that I'm actually about to do this…Do you have any last minute pointers, do you?" Leo asked as I looked at Yusei expectantly.

"Yeah, remember to adapt to your opponent." He said as I propped my head up with my arm.

"I can do that, right Crissy?" Leo asked as I smiled.

"You can do anything you put your mind too; that's what my old man said." I said as Leo nodded and ran off.

"You never really told me about your parents." Yusei asked as I shrugged, "And thanks for earlier."

"Well, you never asked… I am the youngest child out of 5. I lived in…lets say I lived across the world. They all became successful; Track star, Race car driver, Gymnastic, Dancer, and Lawyer. I got most of my talents from them and used it to my advantage… I always wanted to be a duelist, but…my dad was…strict. He wanted me to become a doctor, saying it pays well and that I shouldn't be fooling around with…pointless stuff. I then ran away from home, got a plane take straight to New Domino city and was lost; no money, job, nothing… Just until I met someone who helped me… He helped me get a deck, a duel runner, and…hacked into banks so that I could get money… I then got a job, got an apartment next to Leo and Luna and kept limit contact with my dad because he would have forced me back to…home." I explained and closed my eyes, "I was so stupid. Thinking I can travel all by myself at the age of 13…but I am happy for that; I got to meet the twins, even though Lunie dear was in a coma before I met her."

"You never mention your mom." He asked as I sighed.

"She left us…when I was 8…that's when my dad got stricter. She was…tired of everyone in the family."

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't worry. I am over it…I think, but I finally accepted that my mother left me…That's my life story." I said and smirked at him, "I would ask about your life, but I feel it would bore me."

"Geez, thanks."

"Anytime~"

* * *

><p>"Go kick some butt, Luna!" I yelled, even though I was looking at a TV screen.<p>

"Hoping to take down Ms. Luna is the wallop of powe-"

"My god, stop with the nicknames." I groaned as Yusei slightly patted my back.

"All right, children. Play nice. Let's see those hands shake." Announcer man said as I rolled my eyes…Leo doing weird stuff to embarrass Luna; I feel bad for her, "Now, let's start the duel! Players, activate your duel disks!"

"Kick ass!" I cheered as I got a weird look from Yusei, "What?"

"You're so enthusiastic; I never saw this side of you." He said as I chuckled.

"I'm just happy for him-her-Luna." I said, stuttering at the end.

"First move is mine." Greiger said, "I draw…! From my hand, I activate Star Blast"

* * *

><p><em>~~Skipping Battle~~I'm lazy~<em>

"Victory shall be mine!" Greiger said as he blew up Leo's truck; oh no.

"Gadget holler!" Leo called out

"And now you're wide open for a direct attack!" Greiger said as a bomb literally dropped on Leo. I couldn't stand to hear Leo crying out in pain; he dropped to his knees.

"It's over! Greiger will be advancing to the quarter finals, and Luna will be getting a gift basket." Announcer man said as I literally growled and sighed. I swear that I will kick anyone's butt until I make it to the final; that's a promise to him and Luna.


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey, try to cheer up, Leo. It's not like everyone saw you lose. "Luna said as I walked with the trio: Dexter, Leo and Luna, down the hallway.

"Yeah, she's right. Only 15 million." Dexter said as I slapped the back of his head, "What? It's true!"

"Thanks." Leo said sarcastically.

"It's not a lost if you learn something." Yusei said, looking all 'cool' and leaning against the wall, "Now you learn more than you did before, right Leo?"

"Psh, yeah, more about losing." He said as I rolled my eyes and resisted the urge to hit his head, "I just can't wait to use that in my next battle-"

"Excuse me!" Akiza said as we met eye contact. I didn't bother to move as she bumped my shoulder…Ooh, let my get my knives…she sounds a little familiar.

"What's up her butt?" I demanded, crossing my arms.

"Welcome back, the next duel is about to take way! And now, entering the arena, a knight in shining armor, it's the one and only, Gill Randsborg!" Announcer shouted as the platform went up to show man in gold armor. He took out his sword and I went wide-eyes.

"I didn't know we could carry around swords." I said, sparkles in my eyes, "I am soo doing that next time."

"People of New Domino. Thou shall know my blade and my decks from the attacks thee shall witness." Gill shouted as the crowd went wild…are you serious?

"Well, we wait for a Shakespearian scholar to translate all that… let's get ready for his opponent. Now in the arena, entering his opponent with a record of ...well, it appears we have no record for her, but we can say she's um…ahh…_are you saying we have no information for her?_ Um…well, Domino city, let's hear it for Miss Akiza Izniski!" Announcer man said as I frowned.

"I have the strangest feeling that I know her from somewhere…" I said as Yusei said nothing.

"You'll find no mercy here; sorceress, but you will find defeat!" Gill said as I groaned; duel already!

"Let's duel!" They yelled as I cheered on…Akiza, actually. I'm a feminist~

"Kick his butt, Akiza!" I yelled at the screen.

"Ready, fair maiden?" Gill questioned as she said nothing, "Behold! I summonth a level 3 masked night!" She had no emotion what-so ever…I can't do that. "Thee shall suffer its ability no lesser…" It hit her directly and she didn't flinch! Damn, she's hardcore. "Thou loseth 400 points. I shall call on my spell; Level up! Thee have served me has been banished to thy young pot of graves, for thou brother in arms will be summon. Masked knight, level the fifth! And thus, thy comrade abilities is most special…Thou shall feel the sharp forces align against thee. Most life points has begone thee…. I shall yield with a face down." He finished as I sighed…he talks too much. "Thy turn."

* * *

><p><em>~~Battle Ending~~<em>

"Akiza did it! But is it too late? With her garden gone, Gill's monsters attack points go back to their original! And if you know anything about fairy tails, when it comes to knight…" I canceled him out of my mind and shook my head; she's going to win, no matter what. I held onto my left arm and sighed.

"I sure hate to admit it, but it looks likes this duel is over." Greiger said, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, but the duel won't play out like you think." I said with a smirk.

"Say what?' Greiger asked in shock.

"Due to my Black Rose Dragon's special ability, if I remove a plant-type monster from the graveyard to play, masked knight's points go to zero! Go, Black Binding Bloom!" Akiza called out as vines from her dragon wrapped around Gill's knight

"But, thouest cannot do that to me! It's not fair, I spent all year making this costume for this special tournament…I'm not suppose to lose!" Gill said, losing his accent.

"Well, too bad! And next time you want to play dress-up, you should realize that it's not what you wear on the outside that makes you who you are, but on the inside." Akiza said in a mocking tone.

"I-I wanna go home! Take it easy now!" Gill begged and it was pathetic.

"I am taking it easy! Black Rose Dragon, attack!" Gill screamed out in pain as it affected the whole area.

"I'd knew she would win that duel." Yusei said, holding his left wrist.

"What do you mean? Like you two are connected?" Greiger asked.

"I don't know, but there's something between us." Yusei said as smirked; I smell love!

"Oh hey…Yusei, you're dueling Shira; good luck~"I told him as he went to fix his bike.

"What do you know about this Shira?" He asked as I shrugged.

"Well, a couple of fellows I know had a run-in with him a few years back, in the underground duels. According to them, he wasn't exactly a fan of playing nice. Back then, he called himself the Shadow Reaper. Apparently, he never takes off that robe of his…You planning on using Stardust Dragon?" Tanner asked as I raised an eyebrow; I never heard of that card before.

"I'm saving Stardust for my duel against Jack." He said as I smirked; not unless I reach him first, "And when I face him, he's going to wish that he never gave it back to me."

"Well, you have to go through me, and I won't play fair." I said with a wink before walking out.

"She's a tease, isn't she?" Tanner asked as Yusei shook his head.

"You have no idea."

* * *

><p>"Welcome back ladies and gentleman. It's time for the fortune cup first turbo duel!" Announcer man said as I slowly clapped, "He's the spunky punk trying to get from 3 to 1st class, the little Satellite who could, dueling friends, I give you, Yusei!" Announcer cheered as Yusei appeared from the exit on his bike…Is it me or did he just become cuter…it's just me. The crowd booed at him and I took out my knife, twirling it in my hands.<p>

"What are you doing?' Greiger asked me as I ignored him.

"Dueling him is the Shadow Creeper himself, Shira!" Shira appeared from another exit, but something was off about him… "With both duelists at the starting line, there is just one thing left to do…Kids, start your runner! Both duelists activated their speed spells; only speed spells are allowed!" I sighed; thank god I have some. Countdown clock started and both racers went….then I saw Shira's robe go up in the air…are you kidding me?

"Really, he's here?" I questioned at the TV, "Hunter Pace? Isn't this going to be fun…"

"This is the mother of all surprises! That's not Shira, that's the former champion, the mad biker, phantom of fire! It's-it's Hunter Pace!" Announcer shouted as I sighed. What was not a surprise is that Yusei agreed to duel him. Phantom of fire...? I don't like him...

"Uh…I'm not sure if this is uh- I- uh…aha! Goodwin has agreed to Hunter's challenge! The duel is on!" Announcer said as I smiled; let's see if you're made for speed, Yusei…

"First move is mine! I draw!" Hunter said, drawing a card, "and from my hand, I summon burning skull head!" I cheered; I do like fire.

"Why are you cheering against your friend?" Greiger asked as I shook my head.

"I'm not…I just really like fire…" I said with small blush.

"Ah…so, you're Pyro-girl that I heard so much about." He said as I nodded slowly.

"…I place down three cards…" Hunter finished as I stared intently at the game…I then got up from the couch and went to the phone booth; I need to get HIM here quick!

* * *

><p><em>~~Battle Ending~~<em>

"I activate the speed spell, Gap Storm!" Yusei said as a tornado appeared; I've been seeing a lot of Tornados.

"What does that do?" Hunter asked.

"It only activates when the difference in our speed counter is 10 or more!" He said, "That's why I slowed down!" I started whopping in the air and fist pump! "Now I can destroy every trap and spell card on the field."

"Oh no, so that means-"

"Say goodbye to your Speed Booster!" Yusei said

"That was a close call." I muttered, smiling.

"This ain't over!" Huinter said with his grin…I don't even know it that's a grin.

"It will be once Nitro's special ability kicks in, and because I activate a spell card on my own terms, my Nitro get hooked up with 1000 attack points." Yusei said as Hunter yelled out in shock. "Nitro! Attack with Dynamite crunch!" He MASSACRED that horse into oblivion!

"I'm still ahead!" Hunter said, his points dropping to 1100.

"Not for long." Yusei said, "You see, Hunter, even though you had the lead for most of the duel, your life points are about to run out of gas." No pun needed. "And all because of my Nitro Warrior's special ability!"

"So wait! My junk synchron switches to attack mode?" Hunter asked, "That means it can't protect itself!" That was the point

"Nitro, attack!" Hunter yelled in agony.

"Yusei is about to pull a major come from behind…" I…really thought that sentence was…weird "victory!"

"Can't we be friends?" Hunter asked as his LP went to zero.

"BOO-YAH! That's how a duel is supposed to happen!" I yelled, earning a snort from Greiger, "It's over!"

"There is just no love for the one-time champion these days. History goes up in smokes again!" The announcer said. I twirled around in a circle with a laugh; it's almost my chance….but Qentin needs to come here; now!


	6. Chapter 6

"That was such a disappointment!" I shouted, crossing my arms, "The Professor hardly tried! Koda was…he's a weirdo! Just let me duel next, God!"

"Ms. Witen." An employee asked as I raised my hand lazily, "Someone is on the phone for you." I nodded and walked past Yusei, but before that, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and running to where the employee was pointing at; the phone booth. I went over and answered. This kissing thing is becoming a habit...it's nothing serious!

"Hello, Cristina speakin', how may I help yo-"

"I got your suit and runner ready!" The loud voice shouted as I smiled and jumped up and down and Yusei looked on in confusion, 'I'll be there in an hour. See ya." I smiled and looked at Yusei.

"I'm getting my duel runner back; finally." I said, and latched my arm with his, "now, it's my turn to duel! Wish me luck!"

"Good luck; I know that you will win!" Yusei said, giving me a wink and thumbs up. I giggled and ran out of the room to the platform that I am going to be on. Across from me, there was a girl with brown hair and brown eyes. She had on a black lotia dress, and a pair of fake bunny ears. She had red stockings and brown flats.

"Uh…good luck." I said as she looked over and nodded.

* * *

><p>Yusei's Pov~<p>

I sat down on the blue couch and stared at the TV. I finally get to see Cristina fight. I sighed and touched my cheek once again where she kissed me; this is becoming a habit that I didn't mind.

"Welcome back, Ladies and Gentleman! The next round is about to begin. A cat fight is about to erupt! Now entering the arena, the goddess among humans, the girl with power, Queen of Fire, Pyro-girl, its Cristina Yumeko Witen!" The announcer said as I raised an eyebrow in confusion; why do I have a feeling she will want to kill the announcer? The platform raised and there was she, covering her eyes and gasped at the crowds of people before waving her arms crazy at someone; probably Leo and Luna. She had a black and red duel disk and she…she started to move her hips…? Is she dancing? Oh, god, she is.

"Her lovely opponent will be the master of innocent, a delicate flower, a seductive-"

"Get on with it!" Cristina yelled, shaking her fist at the announcer.

"U-uh, it's Jennifer Hareun!" He said in a nervous tone as a girl appeared in a dress and had…bunny ears? And I thought Cristina was slightly odd….she kept on mentioning her butcher knife… She had a bright smile and blew kisses through the crowd…

"Good luck-"

"Don't be crying when I beat you." Jennifer jeered as I raised an eyebrow.

"…All right, Bring it on!" Cristina yelled back with a glare that made me a little startled; something changed about her. There was no more the immature, cute Cristina no more; there was a fierce warrior ready for battle…did I really say cute?

"The claws are already out-"

"Let's duel!" They both said, activating their duel disks.

"I'm going first!" Jennifer said with a smirk and got out a card, currently holding 6 cards in her hands, "If you don't mind." {This...duel will be stupid; please forgive me!"}

"Of course not; I'm going to wipe the floor with you anyways." Cristina said with a shrug.

"Cocky… I'm starting by summoning Bio-Mage (1150/1000), Clear Effector(0/?). You're lucky this round 'cause I end my move." Jennifer said as Cristina smirked and looked through her cards.

"Ooh, violence, how scary." Cristina teased before drawing a card, "I summon Flamvell Baby(800/200) in attack mode and Arcane Apprentice(1000/400) in attack mode. I then sacrifice both of them to syncrho summon Ancient Flamvell Deity(2500/200) in attack mode!" A large thing on fire appeared as I gasped in shock. I thought Cristina would have picked something more…nicer. "I then put 2 cards down. Now, Ancient Flamvell Deity, attack her puny mage with raging claws!" The monster howled before going after Bio-Mage; Bio-Mage was crushed. Cristina- 4000; Jennifer- 2650. "I put down Solar Flare Dragon (1500/1000) and it deals 500 points of damage after I'm done, but I put down in total of five face-downs; and I am now." Cristina- 4000; Jennifer- 2150. She only has…2 card

"Look at this ladies and gentleman, Fire against fairy, good vs. evil-"

"Fire isn't evil!" Cristina called out.

"Fine, my turn! I summon two Buten(200/300) in attack mode, but I'm not done yet! I sacrifice all my monsters to Synchro summon Arcana Force EX – The Dark Ruler (4000/4000)! I activate its special ability! Now a coin appears and heads or tails will determine your judgement." She called out as I saw Cristina's eyes widen and I looked on in worry. It landed on tails, "I'll take of that punk dragon. Dark Ruler, take out Solar Flare Dragon!" The Dark Ruler roared before going after Solar Flare Dragon.

"I activate my trap card, Solomon Judgment! It stops your monster's attack as I give up half my life points." Cristina said as my eyes widen; that's a risky move. Cristina- 2000; Jennifer- 2150. Cristina has three cards now.

"I really didn't want to use this, but I have no choice, but to use this…I activate my trap cards, Royal Decree, Aegis of Gaia, Aqua Chrous, and BackFire, but I send all of them to the graveyard." Cristina said as I was shocked; those were all good cards, why? The crowd gasped too.

"I can't believe it ladies and gentleman, Cristina had given up all her cards, good ones, and put them to the grave." The announcer said in a chock voice.

"Your friend is pretty dumb doing that." Greiger said as I smirked and crossed my arms.

"She's planning something, I know it." I said to him as he raised an eyebrow.

"I then add in Battle-Scarred to the field and send it to the graveyard!" Cristina said, only having 2 cards left.

"Is that all?" Jennifer mocked as Cristina smirked. What are you planning behind those brown hazel eyes...?

"Of course not, I'll show you how I earned the title of the Queen of Fire! I summon the one and only... Uria, Lord of Searing Flames(0/0)!" I gasped; she has that card! I heard a loud roar as the dragon in red, in all its glory, came from the sky and went in front of Cristina before bowing its head. I saw her briefly touch its head, whispering something before it went by her side… She has that card? I never knew she had a powerful card like that! It's...shocking...

"…that's all? My monster is still stronger-"

"I'm not done yet, sheesh!" Cristina complained and smirked, "Uria has a special ability, actually. It gets 1000 attack points each continuous spell I have in my graveyard, which is um…5-"

"So, it actually has 5000 attack points, but let's not stop there! I activate Molten Destruction that gives all fire type monsters an additional 500 points. Uria (5500/0) is a capable of…incinerating you're Fairy… Now, go Uria, use Hyper Blaze and bring this Dark Ruler to their knees!" Uria roared before using Hyper Blaze and crushing Arcana. Cristina- 2100; Jennifer-650.

"I had enough! I draw and summon Advanced Crystal Beast Ruby Carbuncle(300/300) and use the spell card Angel Bow, which can make a direct attack." She said as Cristina frowned a little; I winced as I saw Cristina get a direct hit. Cristina- 1800; Jennifer- 650. "I end my turn with a face down."

"All right, my turn again. I draw and summon Emperor of Flames(500/950) in attack mode…Now Emperor, attack the Ruby Carbuncle-"

"Not so fast, I activate my spell card, Heaven's Judgment to get a-what are you laughing about?" Jennifer demanded as Cristina laughed.

"I forgot to mention something about Uria's special ability, my fault. Once per turn, I can destroy any trap or spell card on your field, so Emperor, take care of that Ruby." Ruby Carbuncle exploded. Cristina- 1800; Jennifer- 450. "I had fun, Jenn, I really did…but it's time to end this. Uria, attack Jennifer directly with Hyper Blaze!" Uria roared and shoot a large flame at Jennifer as her LP went to zero. "Whoo! That's game right there!" The crowd cheered loudly as Cristina blinked in surprise and shyly waved at everyone before walking over to Jennifer and helping her up.

"Look at that, Ladies and Gentleman! Cristina had taken out Jennifer and will be going to the Quarter Finals! Such an amazing battle, but so short! We can expect a lot more surprises from Cristina in the next round!" Cristina walked down the steps to where we were.

* * *

><p>Cristina's Pov~<p>

I waved goodbye to Jennifer as she went into the crowd in the arena as I sighed. I saw Yusei and brighten; I jogged towards him.

"How did I do? How did I do?" I asked as he smiled.

"You did really well." He said as I grinned and hugged him and I felt him tense; aww, he's so cute! I slowly felt arms wrap around my waist and I smiled. "But, you did get me scared there when you didn't end the battle quickly." I pulled away and rolled my eyes.

"I like prolong duels; makes the excitement burst." I said as he sighed, "So, you're versing Greiger?"

"Yep, in a turbo duel, maybe." He said as I nodded.

"That must be exciting…Hey, lets go watch the other duels!" I said and pulled his hand over to the couch.

* * *

><p><strong>~~Skip~~<strong>

"Finally, now, onto the Quarter Final-"

"We have a special announcement!" Announcer man said as I groaned, "Yes! The rumors you heard are true! Listen up first round losers!" Not nicee… "Don't head for the exits just yet! Rex Goodwin, our master of ceremony, has set up a loser's bracket for the first round! That means if you lost, grab your deck because you might get a second chance to duel again!" I smiled; Leo is probably jumping for joy now, I saw that Yusei was looking at the tower where Godwin is and I couldn't blame him; it was a little suspicious…

"Now, sit in your seats and let's gets started! We are going to pick two random opponents and trust me, it's really random…First off is…Everyone's favorite green-haired girl," Oh no…not good, "She's fast, she's feisty, and she's has to be home before her bedtime! Give it up, for the next generation of dueling superstars…ladies and gentleman! I present to you…Miss Luna!" Announcer said as I put my hands over my mouth and growled.

"God, I'm really going to kill that Goodwin guy!" I growled as Yusei raised an eyebrow, "Luna didn't want to duel…they must have found out that Luna didn't battle Greiger and now, she HAS to duel…so stupid…I really need a-"

"Butcher knife?"

"How'd you know?" I asked as he smirked and shrugged, "I can't believe that she's dueling though."

"I guess they got the right kid for the match, huh? You know, by the end of the duel we had, I didn't think the boy was half-bad… I can't wait to see what his sister got." Greiger said and walked away…

"She can't duel…" I said as Yusei turned to face me.

"What do you mean? She's a fine duelist, right?" Yusei asked as I nodded.

"She is, but…weird things happen to her while she duels…she can see duel spirits like I can, but she sees them more frequent." I told him calmly.

"Are you serious?"

"Like a heart attack!"

"…That's a terrible thing to compare with." He said as I shrugged and looked at the screen.

"Now entering the arena, the little duelist who could, the pint-size prodigy, Luna!" Announcer man said as she strapped on her duel disk and smiled at the screen, " And now, her opponent, the Dean of the deck, the brain of the game, the professor!" His face showed up in the large orb screen, "He's got a PhD in psychology, hypnology, and duelology! So Luna better look out." PhD in hypnology AND psychology…that's freaky; and he lost? Smoke appeared and the professor came from it as it cleared. He walked a few paces towards Luna before bowing, and they had small talk.

"Now, let's get dueling." Announcer man said as the lights and the darkness stopped,, "Remember, only the winner advances; the loser is out for good."

"Let's duel!" They both said as I cheered on Luna.

"You can do it baby girl; kick that PhD loser outta here!" I yelled, pumping my fist in the air.

* * *

><p>I apologize for no adding the duels, but...I am a lazy person not to mention that the battle I made was terrible; please, positive feedback or tips to make this a better story<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

_~~During Battle~~_

"What is going on? What the hell did he do to her?" I demanded, glaring at this professor; her eyes were vacant of emotion; everything, "Ooh! When I get my hands on that-…" I said nothing as I sat down and stared…until I saw nothing and heard nothing…only the fading voice of Yusei…

/?/

"Cristina…Cristina, wake up please." Someone called out as I groaned, what happened? All I remember is Luna playing that field spell and nothing… I groaned and looked around, a forest, are you serious-"Thank god you're okay!" Two small arms wrapped around me. I saw turquoise hair- What the?

"Luna! What are you doing here?" I asked as she gave me a strange look.

"I could ask you the same thing, but thing is I don't know where we are." She said and helped me up, "I think we're in the spirit world."

"…like…seeing real duel monsters, spirit world?" I asked as she nodded, "I must've hit my head pretty hard on that couch." I then saw fairies flying around until one of them went up to Luna's cheek; aw, so cute! Luna started to giggle with the fairy. I heard a cooing sound and gasped.

"Must. HUG!" I said, and tightly hugged Kuribon! Aww, I'm going to hug it to death! I let go as it was spinning in a daze before shaking it off.

"Where is this place?" Luna asked as I shrugged; I don't know, "It seems so familiar, but I can't remember."

"It will come to you soon." I encourage her as she nodded. Kuribon cooed again, but this time, a metal thing was clamped around it; what happened?

"Kurobon! Cristina, what just happened?" Luna asked in a panic voice as I took Kuribon in my arms and felt the metal thing; it wasn't coming off anytime soon… A shadow loomed over us… I looked up and gasped. I thought this was supposed to be a happy place! It roared at us. I glared down on it with all my might and stood in front of the two protectively. I heard something of glass breaking and looked over my shoulder; Kuribon died? Then came back again… The trees started to sway unnaturally.

"No! This world is supposed to be a safe place! You can't harm us here!" Luna cried as the trees opened and light poured down on the blue dragon as it disappeared…I sighed in relief, but it came back, "How did that happen!" Bright purple light appeared as I wrapped my arms around Luna tightly. A swoosh of bright light appeared in front of us as I closed my eyes then opened them; things keep on getting weirder.

"Sunlight Unicorn?" Luna asked as I looked I awe; it was really pre-

"Luna." A motherly voice said as I gasped and looked up, "Luuunnna…"

"Huh? Who is it?" Luna asked, clinging onto my arm, "Who's out there?"

"Luna…you have finally returned to fulfill your promise." The voice said as I looked down at Luna in confusion.

"What promise?" Luna asked.

"To protect the realm of the duel spirits from the forces of evil…"

"But…she's just a kid." I said, finally speaking up.

"What can I do?" Luna asked.

"You can come with me…"

Yusei's Pov~

Something really strange is happening…not only is Luna in a strange daze, so is Cristina. Even the unexpected playfulness in striking hazel eyes… She was hunched over and still stared at the TV…was this the professor's fault? I was startled when she took a sharp breath and slowly swayed left to right before her head fell right onto my shoulder couch; unmoving. I got up and crouch in front of her. She's breathing, but still…I should get her to a doctor or something. I hooked my arms under the crook of her knees and also behind her back. I lifted her off the couch and she wasn't as light as I expected…not that's a bad thing! I held her tightly and walked towards where I could find an infirmary in this building, ignoring the looks of passers. I looked down and looked back up again and resisted the urge to push her hair back to see her face; she looked peaceful…

Cristina's Pov~

"Luna…Luna." The voice kept calling out, "You've come back…I knew one day you would return to us, Luna." Luna stepped back in shock, "I knew you wouldn't forget the promise you made…you do remember…don't you?"

"This is not happening." Luna said shaking her head as I sighed; I don't know…it seems real to me…but I like acting immature…so it doesn't count.

"You promised that you would protect all of us in the spirit world." The voice said…did Luna really do that as I looked over to Luna.

"I think you got the wrong person! Who are you?" Luna asked as I felt my senses nagging at the back of my head. I looked over my shoulder and sighed…You have got to be kidding me! "Not you again…" Suddenly, Sunlight Unicorn jumped into action, "No, Sunlight Unicorn! Wait, come back!" Unicorn made impact with the beast and fell back. The monster roared and died…I never knew Unicorn's can be boss! "Who are you? You are really freaking me out" Repeating questions, Luna…As a result…Unicorn died? "Sunlight Unicorn…no, this isn't real, right Crissy?"

"I don't know what to say, Luna…seems real to me though…" I said to be honest….I looked around, saw bright light, and look, Sunlight Unicorn was back!

"Sunlight Unicorn!" Luna exclaimed with a happy look. She ran over to it, "You're back, what happened to you? Where'd you go?" Luna turned around and gasped and I raised an eyebrow…I'm not ugly! I looked over my shoulder and growled; just die damnit! "Pretty voice from earlier, is this big shadow thing with you?" I dodged away from its claw and ran by Luna's side.

"Are you hurt?" Luna asked as I shook my head and glared at the monster.

"No, I'm fine." I said and looked up at the sky, "Voice-lady, we need help over here!"

"Quick, Luna. Take Cristina with you and use Sunlight Unicorn to escape!" I am going to ignore that she knows my name somehow. I hopped onto the Unicorn and hauled Luna in front of me. The Unicorn went up on to legs as I cheered. Luna grabbed Kuribon and we were out of harm's way from that thing. I looked around, but held onto Luna just in case she fell…We were in an area that wasn't as green and nice…the trees were dead, the sky was dark…this was like a horror film.

"What happened to all the trees?" I questioned, feeling a bit sad, "What the hell is going on?"

"An evil force tempting to cross the void and access the spirit world…it yearns to corrupt and twist this place to harness its power for malicious purposes…" So many big words; can't keep up!

"Malicious purposes? An evil force? That's scary." Luna said with fear in her voice. Unicorn stopped as me and Luna jumped off. I patted Unicorn's head in appreciation and looked around. Dead trees, dead trees, dead trees, rocks, more rocks, carving-…carvings?

"Hello?" Luna called out.

"I'm here, Luna." The voice said gently, "Sealed away in this granite prison…I've been waiting for your return…"

"I don't get it. What do you want from me?" Luna asked, leaning backwards slightly. "That dragon…" Her eyes widened to unimaginable heights…I'm kissing; they just got really big. "Hang on a second, that dragon looks familiar!"

"You sure, Luna?" I asked as she nodded quickly.

"It's you! It's…Ancient Fairy Dragon." I had to hold down a sigh…more fairies…

"We meet again. It's time to fulfill your promise or your brother's spirit will be lost." Ancient Fairy Dragon said, making me glare; Leo's spirit is here?

"Wait, MY Leo is here? If you had anything to do with this you Fairy Dragon, I swear-"

"Cristina, calm down!" Luna said, putting her hand on my arm, "Where's my brother?"

"Lost between your world and ours…Now, allow me to take you back where you first came." Fairy Dragon said as I looked up ahead and saw…a younger version of Luna running with monsters…that made me think.

"Uh…Fairy Dragon…do you know where U-"

"Uria is…resting, Cristina. I know him…that is the only reason why I know your name…He is rather protective." Fairy Dragon said as I smiled; rather protective…? Aw, Uria, you hothead! "I'm going to help you remember the promise you made that will save this world and your brother's spirit." Little version of Luna started to talk, but it faded away…I actually didn't listen, but smiled at the playful girl…I had to admit…Ancient Fairy Dragon was very beautiful and elegant…Lets sum it up…Luna making a promise that she forgot to stay in the spirit world and protect it…that didn't work out. I wonder how Yusei is…Hell, I wonder what happened to my body!

"I remember now." Luna said, bringing me out of my thoughts, "I-I came here several years ago…and I made a promise. I said that I would protect you…But then…"

Yusei's Pov~

I ran onto the stage after I dropped off Crisitna at the first-aid station, I hope she'll be okay alone. I stopped before anyone from the crowd could see me, but they couldn't actually, the field spell is probably blocking their vision from me.

"Luna…" I called out, waiting for Luna to respond, but she did nothing; she was in the same state like Cristina, "Luna!" No response. "She can't hear me." I looked over to the professor and saw that he was unresponsive too. This is weird. It's like they are both hypnotized or something…what is going on? Her eyes are distant…is this what Cristina meant by saying weird things happen to Luna when she duels…well, she was straight on the mark with that one!

Cristina's Pov~

I started to hear Leo's face calling Luna… I catched Luna before she went on her knees; she had a look of distress on her face.

"What's wrong, Lunie?" I asked.

"I heard him shouting my name…and then I-I just started running! I said that my brother was calling out for me…But I think I was calling out for him somehow! I was scared…I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to protect you by myself! So I just ran! After that, I tried so hard to forget about you, I blocked you all out, and then I-" We heard a growl as I groaned; please don't tell me…! The blue thing was back.

"My god, get a life!" I yelled and got in front of Luna , "Go away!" The dragon suddenly vanished like a ripple in a water fountain…wow, I have the power…I heard a chuckle and saw the professor creep replacing the dragon.

"You again! Just you wait, till my foot goes up your a-"

"I cannot believe that I am actually crossed over. I finally left my body behind." He said…He must have a lazy eye because eyes were crossing… "I have finally entered the spirit world!"

"What do you want?" I demanded in a harsh tone that I never knew I had.

"Cristina-"

"Stay quiet, Luna." I simply said as I felt her grab the back of my jacket.

"Luna, you are much more important than you know my dear." He said as my eye twitched; don't call her that! "Now, be a good girl, release your signer power and reveal to me the secrets of this wonderful realm." Black shadows came from his shadow and started to spread. "Show me you power…and don't think I forgot about you, Pyro-girl!"

"Stop looking at me like that you perv!" I yelled, pouting a little.

"Okay, um…I have no idea what you want from us." Luna said, "But you need to leave! You are not allowed to be here!" The tree right next to us broke apart. "Leave this world alone!" I slowly backed up, pushing Luna backwards as the shadows got closer.

"I can't do this." Luna said.

"Yes you can! Believe in yourself!" I argued, turning around to get a hold of her, "You can!"

"No I can't! I want to go home. But if I do leave, Anicent Fairy Dragon said that Leo will be lost here forever." Luna cried out in distress as I sighed; this is getting too much… I think I might blow a casket soon, "Leo!"

"…Luna." I heard someone said and I new it had to be Leo, "I hear you…"

"Here's here…? Leo! Can you hear us?" I shouted, "Where are you? Come on and get us outta here!"

"Luna…Cristina…" Was all he said as I groaned; he's not going to be of nay good help.

"Leo, hurry and help us!" Luna shouted as I saw…a puddle on the ground. I jumped back a little before staring at it in curiosity…umm

"Luna…down here." Leo said as I raised an eyebrow. I slowly crouched down with Luna with uncertainty.

"Leo…is that really you?" I questioned and now that I stared at the puddle, I feel like something weird is going to happen…I suddenly saw Leo's face with a blank stare and I was freaked out.

"It's me…I'm here." He said as I hid behind Luna's back and looked over her shoulder.

"So, come on! Get us out of this place, quick!" Luna said in a hurry as I saw the darkness creeping closer.

"I can't bring you guys back, but I did saw your promise to the spirits." Leo said, being his…alter-ego.

"But I was three!" Leo argued as I raised an eyebrow; are they really arguing now?

"I know, but you're connected to these spirits now…don't worry; I'm by your side so I'll protect you so you can protect them." Leo said and disappeared.

"Leo…" Luna called out…The water puddle thing disappeared as I looked around, "Leo!" I held her close as the environment around us started to get a little chaotic.

"We are under attack, Luna. Now is the time that you must defend us." Ancient Fairy said as Luna looked down.

"I don't know…." Luna said as I sighed, "…If I can." I looked down and clenched my fist; i'm starting to lose hope too...


	8. Chapter 8

Cristina's Pov~

Spirit World-

Luna got up before turning around to the fossilized Ancient Fairy Dragon with a new determined look on her face that made me smile.

"I won't let you down, Ancient Fairy Dragon. I will fight to protect to protect this spirit world and save my brother's spirit." Luna said as I nudged her.

"But…you are certainly not doing this alone!" I said as she gave me a smile and a nod. I heard that…laugh again and turned around; I almost forgot that he was here. I saw a duel disk appear on Luna's arm and smiled, "Kick his butt!"

~~After duel because frankly…it bored me~~

"I gave my word to protect this world, and that means I'm going to have to take out your precious life points." Luna said as I cheered; girl has some backbone! "Even if it means risking my own at the same time!" Professor's LP went down to 2200. "And since your equip spell is gone now, Kuribon's attack points return to 300…you won't win this duel!"

"And you will not stop me from achieving my own destiny! Attack now Ido!" The professor said as that blue monster appeared again.

"I activate Kuribon's special ability! When Kuribon is attacked, he can return to my hand and in order to avoid damage; you can't touch him!" Luna said fiercely, "And even though you gain LP, at least I was able to get my Kuribon safe! I promise to protect him, I promise to protect the entire spirit world, and I am going to keep that damn promise!" I gasped; Luna is cursing? Oh my, I am having a large influence on her…A LARGE influence.

"Now! My power will break you and your promise!" The professor said as I heard some rumbling; I saw that the imprisonment with the Fairy Dragon was shaking a little. The PhD psycho started to cackle, "There is nothing you can do to save this world! I will destroy it and rebuild it under my rule!" I heard her roar with what I believe to be is anger.

"Oh, man! She seems really pissed off." I muttered and saw how the earth was splitting. I saw how her hand reached out as I raised an eyebrow, "What is she doing?" She grabbed the Professor as I gasped; is she going to kill him? She brought him up in the air as he continued to laugh.

"She's going to crush him." Luna said as is shrugged, "What do you mean, shrug? Don't do it! You're no better than he is!" Big words for a little one. "Put him down, okay?" She just roared…

"Luna, just end the duel and maybe he'll be fine…even though he highly deserved it." I said as she nodded.

"I activate…Oprom's Ring*!" A green light shot out to the Professor." Luna said, "This spell reverts his LP back to 2200! And instead of restoring our LP, it damages us for the same amount!" Is she serious…then that means…I saw a tornado shot up from the dark clouds, dragging everyone in. Is this like skydiving? I was dragged in the air and barely got a hold of Luna. I was slowly letting go of her as I felt her grip tighten.

"Where you going?" She yelled as I tried to give her smile, knowing that she might not see it.

"I'll see you on the other side!" I yelled before letting her go and let myself get blown away.

Non-Spirit World-

I saw myself under white sheets and looked around…why am I in the first-aid…whatever you call it…I yawned and saw that my jacket was gone…my eye twitched as I looked around and saw a note right next to my head…uh… I picked it up and raised an eyebrow.

'Hey,

You fainted and I brought you here. Luna's fine and they were both eliminated…P.S. Leo took your jacket.

Yusei' I crumpled up the paper as flames appeared in my eyes; he took my jacket? That's it! I removed the sheets and walked out of the room with intent for revenge for that little…ooh! I don't care if he was cold, that is my jacket…! Where would he be…? The bleachers! I made a straight run and it with growled.

Yusei's Pov~

"You…Lost!" Leo asked with tears in his eyes, "How are we suppose to doing now, Luna? It's not fair!" I stared at them with little amusement, but was curious about something…why did he take Cristina's jacket…?

"Well, just look whose talking. At least I didn't lose my match like you did." Luna said, closing her eyes.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"And why do you even have Cristina's jacket; she is going to kill you." Luna warned as Leo rolled her eyes.

"No, she loves me! Besides, I want to see what she keeps in her pockets; she can be so secretive!" Leo said, looking through her pockets. I felt muderious intent and looked down the isle…

"Maybe you shouldn't-"

"Don't worry about it, Yusei; I do it all the time." Leo said as I felt the intent getting closer, "It's not like she can hit me."

"You sure about that?" A voice asked behind us as Leo squealed in shock and hid behind Dexter. I looked over my shoulder and turned around to see the strawberry-blond haired girl with…an expression that almost made me believe that looks can kill. She was in her dark-red turtle neck-like shirt that barely covered her belly button, a long black sleeve over her right arm where her mark should be, high-knee black leather boots, a white mini-skirt, and fingerless gloves, "give me my jacket. I feel exposed little man."

"Ooh, what is in this pocket-" Cristina reached over and grabbed the back of his jacket before giving him the noogie of a life-time, "Ow, ow, ow ,ow ,ouchie! Here, pyro-lady!"

"What did I say about calling me that?" She asked and pinched his cheeks before getting her jacket and slipping it on. "You are very lucky that you are cute… Lunie, how are you feeling?"

"Oh, I feel much better, thanks!" Luna said as Cristina smiled.

"Hey, Yusei…" She asked as I looked at her. Our noses were barely touching as it felt like she was staring at my soul. I felt my heart pumping fast as I swear my cheeks had a little more red than usual. The serious look faded before she smiled, "Thank you for bringing me to the first-aid thing; that was very thoughtful of you." I felt her lips lightly peck my cheek as I blushed, but she didn't notice as she went down stairs with a happy look on her face. "I'll give you more one before your duel!" I blushed a deeper red, but cracked a little smile towards her direction as my heart still pumping fast… I looked over to the group and stared blankly at their jaws slacked; especially Leo and Luna.

"You-She- The Kis-…What happened down there?" Leo asked as I raised an eyebrow, "She was going to be my first kiss-"

"Leo, shut up! She's our baby sitter, not your girlfriend. She's obviously his girlfriend." Luna said with a smirk.

"Guys-" I started, but they ignored me.

"She said I was cute." Leo complained as Luna rolled her eyes.

"You're not even as old as her or tall for that matter." This is getting a little weird…

Cristina's Pov~

I sat down in where the remaining opponents are and crossed my legs and my arms, waiting to see the annoying guy with the mike to start speaking. I felt something move next to me and looked over.

"Hey...you look a little flushed, Yusei." I said as he said nothing and avoided my gaze; all right then... Suddenly, the announcer guy appeared with a panic voice.

"Well, ladies and gentleman; there has been a slight accident on the track...there was an oil spill and it might take a few hours to get rid of it." He said as I raised an eyebrow; how does an oil spill end up on the track. I looked over and saw that Yusei looked a little irritated. I would too if I knew that my duel is post-pone. I heard some chatter around and sighed before getting up and looking at him…

"What is it?" Yusei asked, finally looking at me as I put my hands on my hips, "Is something the matter?"

"Uh, yes…you are doing nothing interesting and the track is not going to be ready for a few hours, so…" I trailed off, hoping he would get the message.

"I'm not following you." He said as I chuckled.

"For a guy who knows how use strategy very well, you are pretty simple-minded; lets go out! I don't want to stay here for a couple of hours." I complained as he raised an eyebrow, "Don't give me that look! I could show you around New Domino; it will be fun!"

"I don't know; I think I'll stay here." He said as I pouted a little and nodded.

"Oh…Okay then; see ya." I said and walked out of the door down the hallway to the entrance, crossing my arms; he is such a stiff-

"Cristina!" A voice called out as I turned around and smiled; Yusei. I waited until he stopped in front of me, "I'll go with you…it gets boring really quickly without you."

"Yes! Lets go and find something to eat." I said before grabbing his hand and running, "Keep up!"

"I come here a lot to clear my mind and such." I told him, carrying a bag of Chinese food and motioned around us, "There's usually a lot of people, so then I go to the ocean and relax there." I sat on the bench as he sat next to me… I guess people were still at the tournament.

"I'm trying to figure out, but something I noticed a long time ago." He said, looking at me as I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms, "You have an accent." I went wide-eyes and covered my face with my hands.

"Oh my god, I can't believe you picked up on that; I try so hard to stop it-" I went his hands on my wrists as gently pulled them away from my face.

"It's not something to be embarrass about; it makes you more attractive…" He said with a soft smile. I groaned and covered my face again as my cheeks began to heat up; why must you be so charming, Yusei? "Stop doing that or I'll eat your food-"

"Rude!" I staid, stopping and grabbed my box of food, "You seem so determined to duel Jack; is there a story behind it?"

"…Yeah, there is…we use to be close friend-" I choked a bit and swallowed painfully, "It's a long story-"

"I have the time to hear it." I said, turning to face him as he smirked and looked up at the sky, "Hey, we're friends; let's hear it."

"I was in a group called the Enforcers with two other people; we were the best of buds you could say…we began to take over territory and tried to make most of our lives in Satellite…I've been in dangerous situations and were always saved by them…Kalin, the leader of group took a wrong turn and ended up in jail…After the group broke up, I hanged with others; including Jack…Actually, he was the one who told me all the victory you need is right here." He pointed to his own heart, "I didn't get it at first, but now I do… I started to make my own Duel Runner and I had 'Stardust Dragon' with me…but Jack stole my card and my Duel Runner to become Turbo Duel King…"

"Did you do anything about it?" I questioned, crossing my legs on the bench.

"I made a vow to get those 'bonds of friendship' back and build another Duel Runner; the one you saw today..." He said as I nodded, "I got in trouble with the law and I was sent into jail…as you can tell by the mark. I managed to escape then…you everything else."

"…Wow…you are a bad…ass." I said with a smirk, "I can't believe you made your own Duel Runner and-and…I must admit; you are an amazing fellow." I lightly punched his arm. "I don't think I would have the guts to do that."

"Thanks; what about you? Why do you hate Jack so much?" He asked as I sighed and closed my eyes, "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it-" I stared him with a blank look. "What?"

"I am…surprised that you don't have a girlfriend." I said, pinching his cheek as he blushed, "You are so adorable and cute. Wait, those mean the same thing."

"…I'm…I'm waiting for the one." He said with serious in his eye as he looked at me. I looked back then looked down and saw that his hand was on top of mine… "Sorry-"

"It's my fault-"

"I shouldn't have done that-"

"Shut up, shut up." I said, chuckling nervously before getting serious, "I'm not the easy type."

"I never thought you were-"  
>"You are blushing again!" I cried out before giggling, "All right; lets get serious…I hate Jack because…he is cocky and arrogant in duels, his hair creeps me out, and frankly, I just want to punch him in the face…That's it."<p>

"You guys have never met?" Yusei questioned as I shook his head, "Maybe you shouldn't hate him; give him a chance before you judge him."

"Yeah…maybe…No." I said, leaning back and sighed, "Sorry, I am really stubborn."

"I've noticed a lot of times." He said in a teasing manner. I gave him a funny look and sighed; it was true.

"Teasing, Yusei Fudo, is a bad thing; only I can do it." I said as he rolled his eyes and smirked before looking away. I laughed loudly and went to kiss his cheek.

"I was think-" Oh god, what did I do… his lips were really warm-stop it, you are kissing your friend! I broke it off as he had the same exact shock look I had…

"Oh god; I screwed it up, didn't I? Oh my god, Yusei, forget about that…I was obviously high off from the Chinese food-"

"You overreact a lot." He said with a small smile and I felt his lips once again…it was thrilling, yet nerve-wracking…will our friendship change? That didn't matter at the moment because I pulled him closer, closing my eyes.

The awkward silence was horrendous as we walked back…the kiss was…amazing, but I blame it on hormones.

"Sorry about that; I don't know what came over me." He said as I nodded and let out a cough.

"Nothing to be sorry about, but…it was a bit unexpected…" I said, rubbing my arms, "But it doesn't mean it is a memory I would like to change…Lets just get this sorted out after the tournament and…see where it leads off…I don't know if…right now is a good time to start…"

"I agree…but just to let you know…if I have Amnesia again, I am pretty positive I won't forget that." He said as I laughed and pushed him, "So…friends?"

"Of course friends; best friends!" I shouted and held onto his arms, "Just kick Greiger's ass or I will butcher you."

"You really are an amazing girl…"

"I know!"

*I got off track because I forgot what happens in the episode…But…. I wanted to show a little romance here because I am a sucker for romance. Yusei was a little out of character so I just went with this; review please!


	9. Chapter 9

Cristina's Pov~

I hid my smile as I inhaled the food in front of me with a smile. I looked at Yusei as he suddenly turned his head and I blushed a little…. I looked away and looked at the clock; where is Leo?

"Leo is never late for dinner." I said and got a hold of some steak, "I mean, he likes eating food almost as dueling."

"And he knows 8 pm is curfew." Luna said with a sigh…. "Where could he be?"

"I'll go out and find the rascal." I said before standing up.

"I'll come too." Yusei said, standing up also, "I have a feeling he is in trouble."

"Oh trust me. He will be in more trouble when I find him." I muttered, clenching my fists before grabbing my jacket.

"I can help." Luna said eagerly, obviously concerned about her brother's well-being.

"You should stay here since it's late." Yusei said as I shut my mouth; taking the words right out of my mouth.

"Come on! Please, he's my brother. What if he's hurt and all of us can cover more ground." Luna said as I smiled because she was right.

"You got a point…but it's up to your baby sitter." Yusei said with a smirk, turning towards me.

"Well…this baby sitter says stay safe or you'll get in trouble with me too." I said with a stern gaze as Luna nodded.

I asked around if they saw a short kid with weird hair and even called out his name…no sign…I heard some tires squealing and saw Yusei. He turned his car before stopping inches from me and Luna.

"Did you guys find Leo?" He asked as I sighed and shook my head.

"No, I'm scared." Luna said as I put an arm around her.

"Don't worry, Luna. He's out here and we'll fine him." Yusei said and stopped to hear something beeping. It was from his duel runner. I went over to his side to see Blister on the screen…

"Blister?" Yusei said in confusion and I couldn't blame him…I was confused also.

"Y-yusei, I went to your friends' bunker, but the place has been totally trashed." Blister said as my head tried to analyze what he meant…he is talking about Yusei's friend from the Satellite?

"Trashed? But they are okay, right?" Yusei asked in hope as I felt a little sad for him….Blister only shook his head.

"They're missing; I can't find a trace." Blister said as I saw Yusei take a deep breath in to calm down.

"What happened? Did Goodwin take them in?" Yusei asked, his voice was laced with some kind of anger.

"No idea…and here is where the trail goes cold. After I hacked into the security, I couldn't find a trace. It's like…they vanished." Blister said, "And if Goodwin got a hold of them, they could be anywhere now." The screen started to get fuzzy and messy, "T-they are tracking my signal; I got to sign off quick! I'll call you back if I find anything."

"Thanks." Was all Yusei said before the signal was lost.

"I'm sorry." Luna said, "Are your friends missing too?"

"Yeah." Yusei said before looking down. I sighed and slapped the back of his head, "What was that for?"

"I know that look anywhere because I use to do that a lot…it's not your fault; don't ever think that. We will find them one way or another, or else, Goodwin will have to talk to my-"

"Butcher knife…" Yusei finished as I smiled, "All right….thanks." I heard a clank near by and looked over my shoulder. I heard footsteps and a shadow of a large man.

"Guys, someone is in the alley." Luna pointed out. I nearly laughed when I saw Griger carrying Leo, but stopped…did Greiger hurt my Leo?

"He's got Leo." Luna said as I held her back from running up to the man; he doesn't look happy.

"Griger…what the hell are holding Leo?" I demanded, going into my pocket to reach for a knife.

"Relax. He's all right, Cristina; he broke into my garage. I found him sleeping on the floor." I suddenly turned my attention to Leo…he is going to wish he was never born.

"You can put in there." I whispered as Greiger nodded and put Leo under the covers carefully. I looked over and saw that Yusei put Luna on the couch.

"The boy is sound asleep." Greiger said as I went out of the room and sat on a chair.

"But he can snore loudly, can't he?" Yusei asked as Greiger's smirk widened.

"Yep." He said as I chuckled a bit… I then sat up and went outside andtook off my shoes before dipping my feet in the water.

"Thanks for bringing Leo back." I heard Yusei said to Greiger, "I owe you one."

"Forget it. The boy was just trying to help you out." Greiger said as I raised an eyebrow; how was Leo going to help Yusei?

"How?" I asked, turning around.

"He wanted a sneak peak at my new duel runner like everyone else out there." Greiger said, "In fact, I had to install all five new alarm systems to keep it under wrap."

"Are you going to call security?" Yusei questioned as Greiger 'hmphed'.

"No, he reminds me of my own little brother." Greiger said as I smiled in gratitude, "I;m not going to punish him just because he is trying to help you out for our duel tomorrow…and that…you little hazel eyed friend would get revenge on me." That is so true. "It won't make a difference, you are still going down. I may be a good guy off the track, but trust me when I say that you don't want to mess with me when I'm turbo dueling. After all, these are the big leagues, Yusei, and there is quite a bit riding on this tournament for me and my future."

"What? Like a big trophy?" Yusei asked as I smirked.

"Big trophy? No, the future I am talking about is for my family." Greiger said and looked up at the sky, "They are far away, waiting, hoping that I would give them some help. We use to count the stars together. Here, there is only smog. You and her? Why are you guys dueling here?"

"My friends are involved and I don't have a choice in the matter." Yusei said as I pouted…damn you, Goodwin, "But…I never knew your reason, Cristina."

"Well…its nothing compared to you and Greiger here, but uh…I have been getting letters about my…. green card that is about to revoke, and I thought it had something to do with my daddy, but uh…it was Goodwin…he also threaten me with fraud and more bullcrap, which will catch the attention of my Dad…who I haven't spoken into for…a long time. Summary short, Goodwin said if I don't participate…I will be kidnapped, my reputation ruined, and will be sent home forcefully." I explained, forcefully swallowing, "Let me tell you… my father…is not a pretty man to face…I'm forbidden to duel where I live…"

"That's why you came here?" Yusei questioned as I nodded.

"That's one story I won't forget…you better at your top-game tomorrow, Yusei. I don't want a easy win." Greiger said with a smirk.

"I won't." Yusei said, returning the smirk…men… Greiger merely chuckled before leaving.

"Bye, Cristina." Greiger said as I smiled and waved. As soon as the door closed, I sighed.

"He's like a teddy bear." I said as Yusei rasied an eyebrow, "Mean looking on the outside, but has a heart."

"Whatever makes you sleep at night." He said as I smiled and laid down, my feet still in the water, "Has this been going on for long?"

"What has? The threatening?" I questioned as Yusei nodded, "I try not to dwell on it, but yeah…I actually refused to accept the invitation at first, but then…you know."

"Why doesn't your dad approve of dueling?" He questioned as I sighed; so many questions.

"Well…like I told you before… he was very strict…and strict meant no fun. He wanted us to have successful, me and my siblings…I was the odd one. The one who thought dueling was fun. Buy, I was told wrong…He hid my cards away from me when I was 8, but…I manage to find people who let me borrow their cards…he almost burned my cards once, but I told him I wouldn't duel…That was the biggest lie ever…I went to New Domino, and…you know the rest." I explained and folded my arms, "I am still trying to imagine what life would be like if I followed my Dad's orders…"

"And?"

"It pretty much sucked…" I said with a pout.

"I have been wondering something…why do you keep knives…. you mention it was because of your dad…"

"Ah, Yusei…that story is for another day." I said with my eyes closed.

"But I am glad that you were a rebel…" He said as I raised an eyebrow, "I would have never met anyone like you."

"You got that right." I said and blushed lightly as he laid next to me and pulled me closer. This was a good way to end the night-

"Crissy…" I heard a voice said as I sat up and looked over my shoulder.

"What is it, Leo?" I asked, removing my feet and looking at him…

"I can't sleep good." Leo said with a pout and crossed my arms.

"DO you want me to sleep with you?" I questioned as he blushed.

"I'm not a baby no more…! Yes…" He said as I giggled; such a child.

"All right, I'll be there." I said as he nodded and slowly walked back… "Well, duty calls. I better hit the hay. You should too…you have a big match."

"Your right… have a good night." He said as I smiled and kissed his cheek.

"I will; sweet dreams."

*School is starting so you know what that means….less updates but I will try. Hope you like the chapter…it was a little short though.


	10. Chapter 10

Cristina's Pov~

I thanked the lady behind the counter for the chips and jogged down the hallway to the competitors seating, waiting for the battle between Yusei and Greiger. I didn't wake up to give him good luck, but oh well, I'll have to wait. I sat on the blue couch and olaced my feet on top of the table and opened the bag of chips.

"Welcome to the quarter-finals of the fortune cup. Eight duelists remain and only four will go onto the semi-finals! After the semi-finals are the finals, then the winner will take on Jack Atlas in the champion ship duel! First up in one of our turbo duel is Yusei Fudo squaring off against the powerful Greiger." The announcer said as I snuggled into my seat, smiling ear to ear, "Ladies and Gentleman, let's hear it for Yu-"

"Ms. Cristina?" Someone called out as I groaned and raised my hand lazily, "There's a man outside for you-"

"I'll be there." I shouted and sighed; I felt bad for missing Yusei's beginning. I took my feet off the table and left my chips on the couch before walking down the hallway where the man was leading me. As we reached the back entrance, I smiled when I heard arguing and saw a large blue truck.

"Sir, you cannot go in there without proper clearance-"

"Your proper clearance can go up your butt-"

"Lenrick, calm yourself. "I joked with my hands in my pockets, "It's your fault for coming at this time. Last time you called, you said you'd be here in a hour!"

"I have a life you know!" He snapped as I rolled my eyes and put my hands on my hips, "Lenny…you are such a whiner."

"Then what are you?" He retorted as I smirked.

"Pretty kicking awesome." I said and walked up to him, "It's good to see you."

"Same here." He said as I smiled. Lenrick was like…I don't know how to describe him, but he got me out of a couple of situations and…made my life better. He even got me my current apartment. He was…too tall for his age. He's only like nineteen, but can pass off as twenty-one. He has…temperamental issues and is a reason why he will carry a pink stress ball. He has dark green eyes and dark brown that was in a small ponytail; nothing special, "Now, where's my thank you?"

"Why? I don't even know if I'm going to like it." I replied as I saw his eyes narrowed and his hand turning into a fist, "But for your amusement, thank you."

"Don't test my patience." He said as I smirked and flicked his nose, "Stop with your damn nonsense!"

"Sheesh! What happened today?" I questioned and walked over his large truck that must, MUST, contain my bike, "Can I open it?"

"What? Stop being bashful and just open it."He said as I chuckled and went to the back and moved the lever. I grasped the handle before lifting it up and staring at my…

"So…what do you think?" Lenrick asked, putting his arm around me… "Uh…Cristina? If you hate it, I swear, I will pour gasoline on that bike and burn it-"

"I don't pay you?" I questioned out loud and jumped for joy, "Oh, I cannot thank you enough-" I stopped talking and ran into the truck…

"…You are a little bit too excited." Lenrick said with a amused face, but nonetheless, followed and help me take my duel runner out. I sighed loudly and stared in pride at my glorious duel runner. It was a luxurious black that shined in the light. I called him "Crimson Sky." It had a slightly larger wheel than the back. It looked like a regular motorcycle…sort of. The glass was a dark red. I…I don't know how to describe it because I don't have the time to explain every single…beauty in this fascinating thing. There were tribal designs on the sides that were white as snow…

"I can't thank you enough…" I said with a large smile, "Thank you."

"It was no big deal…Oh yeah, here." He said and handed me a small box in my hands, "I made your suit."

"…How did you know my size?" I questioned with a smirk, "Are you a closet pervert?"

"Shut your trap." He growled as I chuckled nervously, "I remember from your last suit."

"Ohh…Okay-" I suddenly heard the announcer saying some stuff and I remembered, "Oh shit, Yusei!"

"You say? I didn't say oh shi-"

"No, no. I'll explain later. Put the bike somewhere!" I said hurriedly, running as fast as I can, "I'll be riding later, bye!"

"…What the hell is going on?" Lenrick questioned, rubbing his forehead.

I sat down on the couch and stared at the screen with intensity. Yusei was down to 300 points and I had no more food to eat. Next thing you know, Greiger had lapped Yusei…

* * *

><p>"Damn it, Yusei! Let's go!" I yelled on the screen standing up, ready to grab a vase and throw it to a wall, "Kick Greiger's ass down to the ground!"<p>

"Do you always talk this loud?" Someone snapped as I looked to my left…

"Who the heck are you?" I questioned as the guy smirked, "What's with the smirk?"

"I am Zeke, your opponent." The guy said and did a bow. I raised an eyebrow and looked back at the TV, "Do you want to introduce yourself?"

"Obviously not since I am not responding." I said and looked at the TV and saw if there was any way if Yusei can-

"Are you worried about your friend?" Zeke asked, bringing me out of my thoughts, "His name is Yusei, right?"

"Hmm…Yeah." I said with a smiled, "But he's Yusei, so he'll do fine."

"Maybe you should worry about yourself." He whispered as I raised an eyebrow and took a giant step away from him, "It was never my intention to verse a delightful creature like you, but I have no choice-"

"Delicate creature! Do you know who I am-"

"Cristina Yumeko Witen. Your 18 and your birthday is January 16th. You occasionally like to put roses behind your ear. The babysitter of the protégée, Luna, and her brother, Leo. You are known as Pyro-girl or queen. You have a tattoo on your right shoulder blade that says "my one little flower". You are not from here, and in fact, really far. You have a secret obsession with plushies. That is only skin deep." He said with a small smiled as I felt more…threatened and clenched my fists. I slowly went down to my pouch- "No need to get your little knives; that's uncivilized. I was just-"

"Invading my privacy? Yes, you did that! Just who the hell are you? A stalker? Most likely." I said and narrowed my eyes, "Zeke, you are one guy is about to regret messing with me-"

"Yeah, yeah. Let me guess, you're going to let me have the upper hand and make my confidence go up, and maybe summon, I don't know… "Darkfire Soldier 1" and then 3 facedowns. After all of this card wasting, you will summon 'Elemental HERO Inferno." Then you will get rid of all your cards and somehow summon that "Uria" dragon and defeat me… Am I close?" He said and then yawned loudly, "Wow, you're so predictable. It actually is pathetic-" I couldn't stand his…trash. I grunted and went to slap him, until I felt an intense squeeze around my wrist. I tried to pull away, but the grip tightens. I took a deep breath and stared at him in his dark gray eyes.

"Let go of me before you regret it." I whispered lowly as he laughed.

"That was expected too! Hitting a young man with no reason. For shame, Crissy-"

"Don't call me that!" I said and tried to pull away, "Oh, man. Just wait till I verse you. You will be wishing you are fac-"

"Facing the devil- I know…" I huffed in annoyance as his face was closer; talk about a serious case of halitosis, "It's going to be fun." I made a disgusted face and closed my eyes when I felt his finger on my face

"You are so dead man. Just wait." I muttered as he chuckled as if this was a game.

"I'll be waiting patiently for that time." He said as I went to slap him again with my other wrist, "Wow, you really didn't learn anything, did you? Not surprised though…" He said and I whined when I felt something moist on my fingertips. He then let go of my hands and walked away…

"Don't kiss my hands." I muttered and looked up to see he was gone…I was trying to block it out, but…it gave me the chills. Not even Yusei winning at that moment could cheer me up a little.

* * *

><p>Sorry for such the long wait and the shortest chapter, but i will make it up...I need some feedback, if it was a good idea to make the person Cristina dueling...a creeper; review please<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

Yusei's Pov~

* * *

><p>I stared at the duel between Akiza and Koda. Akiza had started out strong, but I was surprised to find out that she went to duel academy.<p>

"And the plot thickens." I heard Cristina muttered as we heard more of Koda's story, "Oh my god, get over it four-eyes! That was years ago. Bringing up the past, the idiot…Rip his head off-"

"Someone is more revved up than usual." Tanner said as she glared at him, "I'll stay quiet." I stared at Cristina… something is bothering her. I could still see that she was herself, but something is just off…Did something happen?

"I want to use powers to help people!" Akiza cried out as Cristina looked up again, breaking from what looked like a trance.

"Oh my, he's…he's a jerk! I want to-"

"Does the next line have to involve a knife?" I questioned as she drily laughed and nodded… I got off my bike and got in front of her. I hesitated for a moment before gently grasping her wrist that she was holding. I noticed that she grimaced a bit whenever she held it, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She said, looking up at the ceiling.

"Well…are you okay, and I mean internally…" I asked as her smiled dropped and she sighed. All she did was shook her head and pout, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really… but do I have a choice?" She asked as I smirked, "I'll take that as a no. All right, let's go sit down somewhere…Tanner, we will be back."

"Sure." Was all he said. I started to walk as Cristina followed…

"You want to start?" I asked as she smiled a little and shrugged.

"Sure…let's start off with this…am I predictable?" She questioned, which caught me off guard…I can't find her predictable…, "You know, like…I do stuff all the time, repetitive?"

"Unless this is about your 'good luck' charms than no, you're not predictable. Why do you ask?" I asked as she rubber her temples.

"The guy I'm facing, he's… he is a bit…unorthodox…if that word would make sense. He knows…practically everything about me." She said as I raised an eyebrow in amusement, but it grew in concern as I saw worry in her eyes, "He even knew about my obsession of plushies!"

"You have an obsession of plushies?" I said as she looked at me with a small glare, "I'm a little shocked, but keep on going."

"He's like…I don't know, but he really know too much about me, like he analyzed me…He's kind of like another Koda, but a little creepier, if that is possible." She said in a slight whisper and I realized that it is really serious, "I'm not sure; I'm losing my cool; I mean, being a stalker one thing! But when you are facing a stalker is another thing… I'm…I'm not sure if my cards will be enough-"

"Cristina, what happened; I never saw you like this." I said as I stopped her as she sighed and slid to the ground as I followed in suit, looking at her.

"He…he made me feel vulnerable. I didn't feel safe; I didn't feel the comfort that I was use too…I felt exposed and weak." She mumbled.

"Did he do anything to you?" I asked, hoping he didn't do anything risky that would cause her to act like this, "Did he hurt you?"

"Y-yean, and no…well, yeah…" She said as my eyes traveled down to her wrist and I grabbed it gently, "Well, he did that. I kind of wanted to punch him, but he stopped it-"

"He doesn't have the right to put his hand on you." I said, feeling a little loathing for this guy, "He-"

"I know… I don't think I'm going to do well." She said as I went wide-eyes. Did he really break her spirits so deep that she is acting like this?

"How about I'll help you." I said as she stared at me, "I'll help you with your deck so that it will be impossible for him to know your moves, But you have to do something for me…"

"Umm…what is it?" She asked, pouting a little that made me crack a little smile.

"You can't give up, no matter what. You have to believe in your cards and yourself; that's the only way of you winning. From the last few days, which felt like months, the Cristina I know would not act like this. Her eyes would have too much energy to contain, her attitude wouldn't falter for anything, and she would not step down from a fight. I'm starting to wonder if the real Cristina has been replaced." I said as she looked down…did I say something wrong-

"What the hell am I doing? I'm gonna kick that guy's butt!" She yelled, but I saw a few trickles of tears in her eyes, "Gosh, that was my moment of sadness that you'll never see again! I'll show that, weird-o bastard who I am!"

"I hope to never see that moment of sadness again." I said as she looked at me and grinned.

"Thanks again." She said and I smiled when I felt her arms around me. I chuckled a bit before hugging her back. She pulled back quickly and cradled her wrist again.

"Do you want to get some ice for that?" I offered as she shrugs and stood up. I stood up as well and took her wrist. I looked at it carefully before kissing it softly. I heard her laugh and looked at her. It was amusing to see her face turn a bright red.

"What was that?" She asked, biting her lip which I noticed was her common thing to do.

"It was a get-well kiss."

"Well…maybe I should get injured more often." I crinkled my eyebrows together before shaking my head in amusement and walking down the hallway with her.

* * *

><p>"All right, I think my deck is prepped up in its randomness position." She said, shuffling her deck without a care as I raised an eyebrow.<p>

"I know you want to be unpredictable, Cristina, but are you sure this is the best way to go...?" I warned her as she sighed and leaned back, putting the ice on her forehead.

"No, but I cannot think of anything else." She muttered and sighed, "I might as well wing it."

"Winging it won't let you win; you have to believe in your cards…here, let me fix your deck." I said as she turned to look at me.

"You sure?" She asked, removing the ice-pack, "I mean…this is kind of a waste of time-"

"If it involves helping the people I care about, then there's no time wasted." I interrupted her as she smiled and closed her eyes, "What are you thinking about?"

"If my dad is watching me, from TV. God, he's probably shooting steam of out his ears." She muttered and chuckled, "Imagine his face when I get on my duel runner."

"Speaking of duel runner, do you have yours?" I asked as she smirked and closed her eyes, "I'll take that as a yes, what it looks like?"

"You'll find out once I'm facing you in the Finals." She said as I smirked.

"The confidence is still there." I said as she gave me a teasing glare. I shuffled through her cards, and tried to put it as best as I could that would be like Cristina's battle strategy and a part of me felt guilty. If we do verse each other in the finals, I am seeing all her cards; it wouldn't be fair-

"Don't worry about it; even if you see my cards, don't feel guilty about it. I don't mind." Cristina said out of the blue as I stared at her in shock; how did she-

"You tend to talk under your breath, do you know that?" She asked and flashed me a smile before putting the ice pack on her forehead again, "It's adorable."

I shook my head and kept on fixing her deck.

* * *

><p>I sat on the couch, relaxed and all, and stared at the TV. This was the third battle of the quarter finals, and another battle away from the semi-finals. Tanner had gone back to his seat with Luna and the others. I could have gone back to my bike to make sure it was in top-condition, but Cristina was on, I had to make sure she didn't lose her nerve during the battle. I shook my head, I shouldn't doubt her, she will make it through; I know she will…<p>

"Ladies and Gentleman, welcome back to the third battle of the quarter finals; just one more way the to the super fantastic, jaw-dropping, spectacular, championship finals!" I smirked and crossed my arms; I could imagine what Cristina would look like when he said that. "On my left, we have the man with the plan, the heartthrob, the man with all the answer, Zeke!" I blinked in confusion as I saw the crowd, mostly girls, having posters… And I thought Jack was popular for the wrong reasons… "On the right is our lovely angel, the flame that lights every fan-boy heart-" I narrowed my eyes slightly; what fan-boys? "The lady with the power in her hands…The breathtaking Cristina Witen!" Cristina came onto the platform and waved happily at the at the crowd, but I saw that her eyes were focused on a certain place; maybe where Leo and Luna are. She slightly jogged into her place and took a deep breath. It seemed like she was calm and collected; that was unusual. Usually, she would have been still in her moment and smirking at least…I think she's freaking out in the inside.

"Are you ready, Cristina?" Zeke asked, bowing lowly as I heard from the TV, and outside the yelling of thousands of girls, "Hope you don't disappoint."

"Shut up and duel." She snapped before activating her duel disk. I clenched my fists and looked at the TV; Cristina what are you doing…this isn't the girl I have grown to lo-…_adore_…

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><p>*Well, I felt a bit mushy today and was like, "Hey, I want to do something very crazy" and here it is. Please review and tell me if Yusei is going a bit too fast or not. Thanks!<p> 


	12. Chapter 12

Cristina's Pov~

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><p>"Ladies go first." Zeke said, grinning as I snarled, "No need to snarl. We didn't even begin yet and you are already shaking. Does my presence shake the very foundation of you?"<p>

I looked down and saw my hands were trembling a bit; this is getting a bit too much. I had prep-talk myself again and again after my talk with Yusei. I thought Yusei's words alone would help me reach my peace, but then, I started to over think it and quickly lost my cool; I'm so pathetic… I clenched my fist and look at him.

"Fine, I'll start." I shouted, already looking at my cards, scanning quickly before looking up at him. His eyes were observing me, like any movement I make will be used against me, "I summon Charcoal In-"

"Ah, Charcoal Inpachi. 100 attack points and 2100 defense points. You will probably leave him attack mode and put two face down cards; right?" He asked, cocking his head to the right as I scoffed a little, but that did make me nervous; I was going to do that.

"Hey, I get to say what card I am putting down, not you." I said, as Charcoal was summon, "I put Charcoal Inpachi in defense mode with one face down." Did I really say that? That was a stupid, stupid move…wait, it was actually smart, though, I said it before actually doing it. No, no, this is bad-

"Are you done yet, my fans are waiting for my move." He said as I raised an eyebrow. I looked around the arena and raised an eyebrow before chuckling a bit, "And you are amused?"

"I can't think anything about you that deserves fangirls." I said and sighed, "Your move, Zeke the jerk."

"My pleasure." He said before drawing and smirking at me. I looked at him before making a disgusted face; stop looking at me, "Hope you are ready." Ooh, I am not… I looked up at the sky before sighing…

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><p><em>~Middle of Battle~<em>

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><p>"Go, Alien Warrior (18001000)! Attack her directly with soaring scar!" Zeke yelled as I put my arms in a X, but it didn't do any good as I dropped onto one knee and looked at my duel disk as my LP went to 1500; his was 2800. I hate to admit it, but…this has to be one of the most challenging battles yet, and I was having fun… "Aw, Cristina, do you want to take a break?"

"I'll take a break once I kick your ass and stab you repeatedly." I responded, going back onto my feet, "No matter what you do, I will always come back up."

"Good, I didn't want an easy win from the daughter of Julia Witen." He said as I nearly dropped my cards… "I mean, I know Ipati Yumeko was a strong guy, but your mother really takes the cake." My jaw tensed as I felt my heart beating against my ribcage. Is he…is he talking about them in front of me? "I heard she was a spirited woman, always believing what is right, even though it went against what her husband thought. Despite that unbreakable and pure personality, she wasn't perfect. She became selfish, probably useless, and left her whole family-"

"HEY!" I yelled, taking out one of my knives and pointing at him as I swear I heard loud gasps, "You, you have no right. NO RIGHT. To be talking about my parents in my face. I don't know if you are ignorant or just asking for a death wish. My mother didn't leave because she was selfish. It may seem like that to you, but it's not true; it's not true to me. Say all you want, gather as much evidence as you can, anything, and I still won't believe you. As much as I would like to thank you for calling my mother strong, this anger if already spilling out of its cup from you…crap! You don't have the right to call her useless or anything else for that matter! Don't act like you know EVERYTHING in my life because I swear, you don't know the half of it. You are a…sick bastard." Pent-up anger can come in any size…mine was the size of this stadium. I threw my face that barely missed his feet. "Say anything else and I will not miss; I can promise you that." His jaw was slacked as I went wide-eyes and clenched my arm; my mark was burning…That's not good… "Are we going to continue this or what?"

"…You can proceed." He said as I grinned and flipped a card; Cristina is back in action baby.

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><p>Yusei's Pov~<p>

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><p>I smirked slightly when I saw the grin on Cristina's face and the overwhelming confidence that was showing once again, but winced a bit when my mark had started to burn. I crossed my arms and sighed; she will win no matter what. Though, it strikes as odd when he knew about her family. It made me wonder how this guy had gotten his information from. Could Goodwin have given this guy the information? Was this all a test to see if Cristina was a signer or not? If so, Goodwin will still pay, no matter what. I broke out of my thoughts when I heard a familiar roar and smiled; Uria, Lord of Searing Flames that had attacks points of 3000 attacks and defense points. I looked at Zeke and what struck me was that he should have known this would have happened. Did he just come into this duel only to provoke Cristina's signer powers?<p>

"You should be lucky that you are against Uria, he's much nicer than me than you would think." Cristina said as I raised an eyebrow, but was not surprised; she would have taken the guy out of she had gotten the chance to… She would probably somehow get a butcher knife and threaten. I chuckled at that thought because it is possibly true, "Go, Uria. Attack him with a full on Hyper Blaze! No holding back!" No holding back? She really wants this guy to suffer. I saw that his side of the field was empty except for a facedown card, but he didn't play it as he screamed when his life points dropped to zero.

"Ladies and Gentleman, I don't believe it; Cristina had manage to pull one from behind and taken the best of Zeke, but he's not going out a loser, but as a lesson not to mess with the heat-"

"Shut up, you're giving me a headache!" Cristina yelled, glaring at the announcer before walking down the steps to where she had entered. I got up and jogged to where she was. I hope that entire boosted ego was not for show. I saw that she was leaning against the wall, looking outside. I slowed my pace and looked at her in curiosity.

"Cristina." I called out as she just raised her hand before putting it back down. I was a bit confused before walking a bit faster towards her and looked at her. She was…pouting…I expected some happiness or sadness, but not just pouting. I raised an eyebrow and leaned against the wall across from her.

"Why are you pouting?" I asked as she looked over to me and crossed her arms.

"The match." Was all she said, making me more confused; what is she talking about?

"What about the match; you won. You're going to the next round." I said as she smiled slightly and pushed some strands of hair behind her ear.

"That's exciting, but my duel with Zeke the stalker…it was a disappointment; I was expecting a challenge from beginning to end, but just after that…speech, there was hardly competition; it felt like school all over again." She said, rubbing her forehead, "I felt like he had no reason to fight me anymore; only to provoke me. If that was his mission, he did hell of a job."

"I have a different theory…" I said as she looked at me, "What if Goodwin had hired him…to see if you have the mark."

"That makes no sense." She said, dismissing the thought, "But…now that I think of it…it actually makes perfect sense. How Luna, Akiza, and I had our powers activated… You think he knows about it."

"We can't just make assumptions-"

"I don't know; assumptions are usually right. My assumption is Goodwin is toying with us, provoking us-…I hate that man. I'm going to go over there, get a damn butcher knife, and chop him to pieces." She muttered, walking down the hallway. I sighed and rubbed my forehead; it always revolves around the butcher knife with her…

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><p>Cristina's Pov~<p>

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><p>I sat next to Yusei, watching the next battle enfold with those people…that I manage to forget. I looked up at the ceiling and put my arms under my head.<p>

"You are going against Akiza after this one…" I said as he turned his head to look at me and nodded, "You have your strategy planned out?"

"All you have to do is believe." He said as I groaned.

"Yusei that was a terrible answer. I wanted some…deep and-and epic strategy with some mysterious bits, and all you give me is believe in the cards thing again? Oh man." I said, flicking his nose, "You sure you can win ONLY with believing and hope?"

"That's the only way; it's not only the cards, but believing that you will and win and have ho-" I put my gloved hand over his mouth and made the 'shushing' motion.

"You talk too much." I said and leaned against him, "But if you think that strategy will work; I'll like to see that…You better be careful."

"Against Akiza?"

"Who else am I talking about? Of course, Akiza, you are playing against her. We all know that her cards come to life and you might…you might get really hurt. I don't want to see people getting hurt, except for bastards like Koda; he deserved that. I'm getting off topic! Anyways, I don't want to see you get hurt. God only knows what I will do if you got hurt." I said with a slight chuckle.

"What would you do if I did?" He asked as I raised an eyebrow.

"I reiterate, God only knows what I will do if you got hurt. It's not meant for the ears of your, simpleton; it's a A and B conversation." I said and poked his cheek, "So, no getting hurt."

"No need to get drastic on my behalf-"

"I'm always drastic when it comes to my friend; you are no different." I said, standing up before stretching, "Just don't get hurt, okay…? Just, please…don't…"

"I can't promise, but I will, for you, if I can." He said as I grinned and hugged him closely as I felt him hug back. Hopefully, everything will be okay…

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><p>Watch out for the next chapter soon! REVIEW<p> 


	13. Chapter 13

*Tell me what you think and if I should move this...'relationship' a bit slower

*Don't forget to review!

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><p>After the battle had ended with Micheal and Ryu, Ryu being the winner, it was onwards to the Semi-Finals. Yusei would be against Akiza and I am against Ryu. I walked along side Yusei as he looked focused. I saw that Akiza and Yusei stopped, but I really didn t care and started to walk slower.<p>

"Everything okay, Akiza?" Yusei asked as I slowed down to a stop.

"I'm fine!" She said, narrowing her eyes and grabbing her arm.

"So, what's your deal with these marks of ours. You really freaked out when you saw mine the other day." Yusei said

"Yeah, well. This mark has brought me nothing but pain! So what good can it have when another one comes around or two. You got that?" At this statement she said, she looked at me as I barely gave her a wave. I was resisting the urge to jump in there, "It's dangerous. So just keep away!"

"Yusei, Crissy!" I heard Leo said as I raised an eyebrow and started to walk towards them, "We need you to settle an argument-the witch!"

"Leo." I said, slapping the back of his head, "She's isn't a witch." I didn't like the look she was giving them either.

"Sorry, force of habit." Leo said, rubbing the back of his head. Suddenly, Akiza looked away.

"What's going on back here?" I heard a voice asked, and it was a little high-pitched. I turned around and snickered a bit; is that a clown? "Everyone getting along nicely…? Quite the duel today, Ms. Akiza; very impressive. Before the semi-finals get under way, Director Goodwin wants a few things he wants to talk about with you. I would say more, but it's confidential. Why don't you come with me and-"

"Akiza must rest." Another voice said, popping up and I was getting annoyed; who are these shady people?

"And you are?" Clown face asked, not so excited that he got interrupted.

"Don't play dumb, Lazar. Your reputation precedes you. We both know that you don't like surprises so why waste time pretending that you haven't done your homework." Mystery guy said with a smirk. Clown face-Lazar, I mean, started to chuckle.

"Stay away from Akiza…and tell the director that she's not interested in what he has to say. Now excuse us." He said as Akiza and his bodyguards started to walk… it concerned me on how Akiza was obeying with no hesitation.

"Well, the director will not be pleased about this at all." Lazar said with a frown.

"What's the story? With Goodwin? What does he want his Akiza?" Yusei asked, looking at the short man.

"I swear you were meant to keep you posted. So sorry about that." Lazar said with an evil smirk and walked away.

"Bye, clown face!" I yelled as he looked over his shoulder and glared at me.

"That Akiza lady creeps me out." Leo said as I patted his head in agreement.

"She seems so sad…" Luna said, looking down.

"Luna, what's wrong?" I asked, crouching down to her level.

"Um…my arm kind of stings or something." She said, "Whenever that girl looks at me, I feel all weird and stuff." I tilted my head in confusion.

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><p>I crossed my legs and leaned against the blue couch next to Yusei, who was looking at his deck again…and again… he suddenly took out a card from his back pocket as I leaned over and gasped in awe.<p>

"Is that…Stardust dragon; the dragon that's very special to you?" I asked Yusei as he nodded and put it in his deck, "You're adding it to your deck, why?"

"This duel might be the toughest one yet and…it will help me." He said, looking at me, "I somehow need Akiza to trust us and break those walls that she put around herself…"

"Breaking walls is not such a smart idea." I said, leaning once more, closing my eyes, "You might get hurt."

"If getting hurt means trying to save someone, then I am willing to do it." He said as I looked a him.

"You are really determined about this…aren't you?" I asked as he nodded and stood up, "Leaving all ready?"

"The duels about to start; wish me luck-"

"Luck? You need more than luck." I exclaimed before standing up, "You need good luck. Don't do anything reckless, idiot. Can you do that, or you're just too cool enough?"

"I'm sure I can manage." He said as I smiled and hugged him as he hugged back, "Thanks for caring."

"No problem." I said before getting onto my tippy-toes and kissing him on the nose, "Good luck!"

"It's the Semi-finals and things are heating down. 4 opponents left and only two will reach the finals! Our first match is against the mysterious black rose, Akiza!" The announcer as a platform rose, showing the girl herself, but I was livid. The crowd was just appalling; how dare they say such thing about her?

"Challenging her is the shooting star of the satellite, Yusei Fudo." The announcer said as I cheered when the platform rose to show the man himself in all his glory.

"Lets do this!" They both said as the duel started.

"Can I sit here?" A person asked as I looked up. The guy had short brown hair, black eyes, a small scar on his jaw, "I didn't want to interrupt your…cheerin-"

"No, it's fine! Go ahead." I said as he said a small thank you and sat next to me, "You know, you look a bit familiar…"

"Heh. Thank you I gues-"

"Come on, Yusei! Stop with the damn plant tokens and think!" I yelled, getting up before plopping down on the couch, "Sorry, I am really motivated…"

"It's fine…But I was saying thank you. You must be real close friends with the guy to actually cheer-"

"That Bitch!" I yelled in rage, seeing her attack Yusei and making people running away. And she was smiling, "Ooh, I'm going to chop her up to little pieces! Just wait until I get my hands on a butcher knife…"

The guy shrinks down and didn't speak for in fear of my wrath.

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><p>I sat on the edge of my seat and clenched my arm, looking in concern for my friend and the broken hearted girl as her lifepoints went to zero. My heart clenched when I saw her crying a bit, but the crowd didn't care, they still yelled at her.<p>

"He's…really good. At least the witch lost-"

"She isn't a witch." I argued and looked at my fingers, "She's not a witch…she's just misunderstood and lonely. Yusei tried to break through the shell she had, and…I think he kind of succeeded."

"What makes you say that?" The guy asked in curiosity as I turned to him and smiled.

"Because he always succeeds when he puts his mind in motion; nothing can break his resolve." I said and laughed, "I'm so stupid; I never got your name. I'm Cri-"

"Cristina, right…I have heard of you…See you in a couple of minutes." The guy said before standing up and walking away.

"Wait, why?" I asked in confusion as he grinned over his shoulder.

"Because I'm the guy you're going against for a spot in the Finals." He said before turning a corner…Is he serious…? That's Ryu? He was surprisingly not a jerk like the others.

"Hey." I heard a voice call out as I stood up and turned around, "I came out alive."

"Yeah, but a little bruised." I said with a chuckle and walked up to Yusei, "Are you okay?"

"Actually, yeah. I think I might have gotten through to Akiza. I just hope she takes my words seriously." He said as I punched his shoulder roughly, "What was that for?"

"Of course she took your words seriously. Don't doubt yourself." I argued before pulling him down the hallway, "Come on, we need some ointment for those bruises."

"So, I won and survived, yet you hit me?" He asked as I winked at him.

"Welcome to the real world." I said and dragged him faster, "Keep up slow poke!"

* * *

><p>"Thank you." I called out to the nurse who cleaned up Yusei's bruises, "So…you're going to the finals; you must be pretty exciting stuff."<p>

"Yeah, I guess. I'm closer to Jack more than ever." Yusei said as he clenched his fist. I smiled at Yusei before getting up and sitting next to him on the medical bed, "You think I'm ready-?"

"Woah, man." I said, slightly pushing him, "I have to win my match and you have to verse next. Don't go on thinking it will be easy as walking."

"I won't expect a easy challenge…" He said as I smiled and looked away before lying down with my arms under my head and looked at Yusei's piercing eyes, "Thinking about something?"

"Nothing really important…just wondering with all these marks..? I know that you, I, Akiza, and Luna have the marks so far…do you think anyone else has it? Other than us?" I asked, wondering about what's been happening so far…

"It may be true, but we are all connected somehow…Look what happened." He said, rolling his sleeve as I widened in surprise. I leaned over and looked at his arm.

"So…your mark has turned into a light red tattoo, maybe permanent." I muttered looking at him, "Does it hurt?"

"Not anymore, but it was a bit of shock. The pain went away as I came here, no worries." He said as I looked down and removed my sleeve-thing and saw that mine was permanent, "Did you feel the pain too?"

"Yeah, now…it looks like a huge-ass tattoo, I don't mind. This is going to be my second one." I said, sitting up, "The other is on my shoulder blade; picture of a flower. I got it out of…anger towards my Dad. Defying orders and such." I said with a smile and looked up when I heard a knock.

"Ms. Cristina; your duel is in 10 minutes." A guy in blue said as I nodded and watched him walk away.

"I'm soo going to kick ass." I said, jumping off the bed and looking at him, "Want to walk your fellow opponent to her platform?"

"It'll be my pleasure." He said, standing up and grabbing his jacket.

"…Well." I said, looking at Yusei, "It's my time to shine once again. I got my cards ready and my confidence level is spilling; you think I can do it?"

"You can do anything you put your heart to." He said, giving me a thumb up as I grinned and hugged him gently, "Good luck." I looked him in amusement when I saw a piece of my hair in his hand.

"Yusei, what are you doing?" I asked as he looked at me and felt my face go red when I felt his lips on my forehead, "You meanie head!"

"Why am I am meanie head?" He asked with a chuckle as if he didn't know.

"Y-you're going to distract me!" I yelled, punching his shoulder, "Ugh, just wait until I get my butcher knife; you'll regret it." I started to walk down the hall, giving a playful glare towards Yusei.

"See ya."

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><p>"Ladies and Gentleman. The next round of the Semi-finals is about to start. This match will determine who will verse Yusei Fudo in the finals. On the left, we have the girl in white, the lady of angels, the girl with the fight in her, Ms. Cristina Witen!" The announcer said as I was suddenly being lifted up and waved to the roaring people in the stadium. It felt a little overwhelming, but it wasn't like I would feel like this every day, right?<p>

"On the right is the shy man who could, the man with the plan, the underdog, Ryu!" I looked over as the platform raised on the other side and saw the guy from the couch. I waved happily at him as he barely waved back, but he looked in awe by the people around him.

"You ready?" I called out as he snapped out of it and nodded.

"Ready when you are." He said, "Don't hold back."

"What kind of girl do you take me for?" I joked as he smiled a bit.

"Let's duel!"


	14. Chapter 14

THE TRUTH COMES OUT ABOUT THE LEGEND OF THE BUTCHING KNIFE; it came out weirder than i expect and harder. Anyways, review and give me feedback!

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><p>Cristina's Pov~<p>

"I'm going to go first." He said and drew out some cards from his deck, "If you don't mind."

"Go ahead, doesn't matter to me." I said, smirking at him as he smirked back.

"I draw!" He said drawing one more card, "I summon Deep Sea Diva(200/400) in defense mode." I grimaced a bit; Deep Sea Diva..? He has a water type deck… I glared at the monster across the field from me who went into defense mode, "I then put two face downs and end my turn."

All right, he's not as open as my other opponents and is on the smart side. I looked at the face down card and sighed; I will find out sooner or later anyways…

"My turn." I said, drawing a card, "I summon Raging Flame Sprite(100/200) in attack mode. It lets me attack you directly every time. Now go, Sprite, burn up his life points away." I quirked my eyebrows together when I saw him sweat. I haven't even brought out the big guns yet.

"I-I summon my trap card, Negate Attack, which negates your Raging Flame Sprite's attack." He said as I saw my monster stop and return to its position, "That was close…"

"Okay…I then put down two face downs and end my turn." I said as I went wide eyes when he put his hands on his knees, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah…I'm a little nervous." He said as I raised an eyebrow. A little nervous; this guy looks like he is about to have a heart attack, "Oh, it's my turn…"

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><p>~~Ending Battle~~<p>

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><p>"Go, Uria, burn his life points to ashes-"<p>

"I summon my trap card, Solemn Judgement!" He said as I went wide-eyes, oh no…not that card, anything but that! "I give up half of my lifepoints. From that, I can destroy your summoned monster." I watched in horror as Uria roared loudly before disappearing and going to my grave…

"Uria…" I whispered, pouting a bit, "Don't worry…We will fight again next time… I put down two face downs and end my turn." I looked at my field…I had 1050 life points left, he has 1150. If I am right about this…I may win this….Though, he already has Ocean Dragon Lord-Neo(2900/1600) on his field and Takriminos(1500/1200) . I had Hinotama Soul(600/500) on my field and Flame Cerebrus(2100/800) …

"This was a really good duel, Cristina. I'm sorry that it had to end-"

"It's not ending until one of our lifepoints is down to zero; don't sell me out now, Ryu." I said with a smirk as he smiled and nodded.

"Now, go…Brionac, attack her Hinotama Soul and bring her lifepoints to zero." He said and I shivered a bit when I saw the dragon heading towards my precious card. It's now or never…I guess.

"I summon my trap card, Mirror Force." I said, flipping up my face down card with a big grin as he frowned, "I think you know what this card does, but I'll explain it to you anyway. It let me destroy all attack position monsters." I breathed a sigh of relief when his monster disappeared and he had no spell cards, "Go, Flame Cerebrus; take out his lifepoints and bring him down to his knees!" The three headed monster growled and attack Ryu with its large claws. He cried out and slumped down to his knees as his lifepoints went to nothing… I stared at my monsters as they left and cheered as loud as I could.

"Ladies and Gentleman; there you have it. Cristina is moving on to the Finals, against Yusei Fudo." The announcer said as I walked over to Ryu and crouched down next to him.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked, peering at him as he slowly looked up and grinned, but nodded despite the tears in his eyes.

"That…that was a good duel." He said as I got up and helped him up, "I should have never been overconfidence-"

"It's good to be overconfident…but you just not have to suck at it." I said, sticking out a tongue at him, "I, on the other hand, manage to be overconfident and not suck."

"Is that your great advice?" He asked as I smiled and rolled my eyes, "Can I get a better one?"

"It's gonna charge you…"

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><p>"Hey…" I said, seeing Yusei leaning against the wall as he looked over, "Whatcha' up to?"<p>

"Just waiting for you…good job on the match…That was a close one." He said as I smiled and skipped next to him, "You kept your word… You're going to the finals…"

"Yeah…I do keep my promises… we are going against each other…" I said with a pout, "I don't want to verse you; you'll probably kick my ass. I should just say I got injured from the last battle." He started to walk and I walked along his side.

"What would be your excuse?" He asked as I smiled.

"Emotional distress." I answered as I saw him chuckle a bit and turned to look at me, "Hey, the pressure can get to a girl!"

"Emotional distress…" He repeated as I nodded quickly. He just shook his head.

"I don't think Goodwin would accept that-"

"Forget Goodwin. I'll walk right out of this building if I have too! I'll leave my apartment, sleep at a school, and work as a janitor."

"That's a great idea." He said sarcastically as I smirked.

"Yusei, my friend, it's the greatest idea you have ever heard; admit it." I said, poking his cheek. He looked over and rolled his eyes. I stuck my tongue at him and punched his arm, "That's for rolling your eyes. I am rather proud of my idea."

"Sure…"

"Don't make me-"

"Get my butcher knife out." He finished as I grinned at him and looked away, "This has been eating away at me, but what's the story behind this butcher knife…if there is a story."

"Oh, there's a story behind that. Trust me, but I don't think we have time-"

"Our battle is tomorrow." He answered as I pouted.

"I'm hungry-"

"I'll take you out to eat." He said as I pushed him slightly, "Keep on making excuses; I still want to know."

"So persistent!" I shouted, punching his arm as I heard him slightly groan, "I went a little overboard."

"I think you did too." He said as I smiled apologetically and rubbed his arm slightly…

"Hey, guys!" Someone shouted as I turned around and waved.

"Hey yourself." I said as Leo, Luna, Yanagi, Tanner, and Dexter stopped in front of us. I moved a bit away from Yusei and ruffled Leo's hair, "What are you guys doing here?"

"We came to see to two finalists." Yanagi said, smiling brightly as I chuckled a bit.

"That was a close call, Cristina. You could have lost." Dexter said as I shrugged.

"Cristina Witen has too much of a big ego to ca-"

"What was that?" I demanded, grabbing Leo's ears and twisting them, "What about my ego?"

"Nothing, Pyro-lady-"

"You're dead meat." I said, pinching his cheeks as hard as I could.

"I give, I give-"

"What are you guys planning to do?" Luna asked as I stopped torturing Leo and looked at Yusei…

"We don't know." We both said as I stood up.

"I was going to walk around the city with blue eyes here." I said, referring to Yusei, "There's not much to do here."

"So are we, can we join you guys-" Leo stopped short when Luna punched him in the ribs, "Luna, what was that-"

"You guys go ahead; we might just check some other stuff out." Luna said, waving at us. I shrugged and dragged Yusei with me, waving at the group of misfits.

"You sure we should leave them?" Yusei asked as I looked at him.

"Luna didn't want too and I trust her judgment…whatever it is." I said and sighed, "This sucks…"

"What does…"

"I have to verse you." I said, about to raise my fist, but stopped myself, "I don't want to verse you."

"Don't you want to test your abilities?" He asked as I had to agree with him.

"I do, but not in a tournament. I just want to duel you…without millions of people watching." I said, "Not you…someone else, yeah, but you…no."

"Why?" He asked as I sighed and opened the door as we exited the large building.

"I feel that I'm going to screw up or people might think I am going easy on you-"

"Then ignore them." He said as I looked at him.

"Easier said than done." I said, "How would I ignore them?" He grabbed my arm and stared into my eyes… I was going to turn my head away-

"Don't look away… you have to look me in the eye and focus…if you don't, you lose your concentration and other things will distract you, like the crowd. You have to stare down your opponent, no matter what. The crowds aren't the one who chooses the winner; it's how you play your cards and the will to believe… Understand?" He said as I nodded and saw him let go of me, "Sorry if you felt uncomfortable."

"No, it's fine…Thanks for that weird advice." I said as he nodded and started to walk. I ignored the feeling the large organ in my chest that was pumping too hard and followed.

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><p>"A childhood story?" He asked as I nodded and continued to slurp my noodles, "I didn't see you as the one who likes childhood stories."<p>

"No one does actually. Not even Leo and Luna when I told them; you are probably going to be the…4th person who knows this. It…it kind of runs in the family; generation to generation." I said, and leaned against the bark of the tree, "It comes from my mom's side…about 50 years ago or more…It's a horror and sort of happy story."

"I couldn't think of any story that is happy and mentions a butcher knife." He joked as I smiled.

"Well, in my opinion, it seems happy to me…I don't know if it will be happy to you, but it is to me. My dad actually thought it was a happy-"

"Cristina, you are rambling." He said with a chuckle as I scratched the back of my ear.

"Sorry, but…let me start…" I said, clearing my throat, "There was this couple in this carriage that went down a long stretched road. They were trying to get home as fast as they could, trying to push their horses as fast as they can through the thunderstorm. The guy wanted to stop and wait until the storm passes, but the girl wanted to get home as soon as possible. The couple started to argued just until the guy started to know he was falling off the road. He moved the reins, but it was too late, the carriage was tipped over in a ditch and the horses were long gone

"Where did they ditch come from?" Yusei asked as I gave him a look, "Sorry."

"Anyways, the guy went to get out, seeing if the damage was as bad as their relationship. He assessed the damage before going back and explaining it to the girl. Getting into another argument, the man said he was going to get help, but stopped himself when he saw a shadow in front of the carriage. They tried to close the doors, but the shadow broke the wood, grabbing the man and dragging him out. The girl quickly moved to the back of the seat, grabbing a shovel for protection. She was too late; the hatch in the back was broken and she was dragged out of carriage.

"The girl was woken up, hanging by a rope that was around her hands. She looked over and saw her husband battered and unconscious. She surveyed the area and saw it was like a cave looking structure. She moved around and twisted her wrist to get out of the bindings. She had gotten out of it and went to her husband, but she could do nothing to wake him up. She crept along the side of the wall, watching on where she steps. She heard loud footsteps and yelped, and covered her mouth. The shadow along the wall had gotten closer as she moved quickly near the exit. Her heart beat was beating against her chest, she felt that it was so loud that even her captive would hear it; he would hear it pounding against her ears. She saw that he had a scythe in his hand and going towards her husband. As she saw his arm went up and screamed. The captive turned his head and stared at her… She stared back in disbelief; it was her ex-husband…who was supposes to be dead.

"She left the area, running out of the exit as fast as she can, and she was relieved when she a bright light, but it grew even worse when it was a just a normal room with instruments that would be used in the kitchen. She quickly looked around and went up the stairs, grabbing a weapon along with her. She heard the man shouting to her, screaming why she had forgotten about him, leaving him to die with his chicken pox all alone. She ignored his voice and checked the door in front of her, screaming out of frustration that it was locked. She turned around and saw that he had her cornered. He asked her why she forgotten about him, leaving him alone to die. She said that she couldn't bear to see him in pain; she couldn't live with herself knowing that her husband was dying on their bed and she couldn't do anything to save him. She tried too hard to move on, but nothing could replace the love they had. The man, not satisfied with the answer, went to attack her, but she plunged a certain knife into his gut, making him disappear. It was the butcher knife that she had given him as a gift for their anniversary. The butcher knife had the 'never forget me'…and she promised she never would…" I finished and looked at Yusei who was strangely close to me, but I didn't mind.

"…Never forget me…I… I can see why you like the story." He said as I smiled, "Is that why you liked it?"

"Yeah…and it reminds me of my mother…" I said and looked at the sky, "I don't know where she is though, but it makes me feel like I am close with her."

"That's fine…I mean…I don't know if I ever got close to my parents." He said as I satred at him.

"How do you cope with it?" I asked, scrunching my face.

"I have a caretaker who acts like my mom sometimes, Martha…She's the closest person to a mother I have." He said as I smiled at her, "But I have you… Leo, Luna, and the other guys. I don't dwell on the feeling."

"That's good to know." I said, laying my head on his shoulder as I felt his arm around waist, "No should dwell on the feeling of loneliness…"

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><p>Was the folklore a bit weird; it was passed on from family to family<p> 


	15. Chapter 15

Here ya go, the next chapter of this lovely series. This chapter is a little...rushed, not a lot of details. It's just I get excited this time of year and family is coming over-anyways! There's a quiz on my profile involving this story; you can choose not to answer, but it will be helpful on how I should move this pace and other stuff. Thank you all for reviewing! Tell me of this one!

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><p>Cristina's Pov~<p>

_I smiled brightly and laughed before leaning back into Yusei's lap, eating Varenyky. I looked at the stars and explained what each one meant. All he did was nod and pull me closer. I snuggled into his chest before turning around and-_

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><p>I groaned loudly when I heard a loud banging on the door. All I want to do is sleep...<p>

"Crissy! Crissy! Wake up!" I heard Leo shout as I groaned louder...This kid. I love him , but still... I took my covers off and sat up, rubbing my eyes. I stood up, staggering a bit, but made my way towards the door, roughly opening it and glaring at Leo.

"Leo, what is it?" I demanded, crossing my arms and yawning.

"It's an emergency!" Leo said as I started to get more serious and looked at him.

"What is it? Did something happen?" I asked, looking around and sighed...for a moment, I thought it was my room...I miss my room-

"It's a big emergency...! I'm hungry!" Leo yelled, hugging me around the waist, "I didn't eat anything yesterday so-"

"Leo...you woke me up...I need more sleep!" I yelled, pulling his cheeks, "I-i was in heaven...until you ruined it! Gah, I will dunk your head into the pool-"

"What's going on?" I heard Yusei ask as I saw him coming out of his room, putting on his jacket, "I heard yelling."

"...Leo." Was all I said before I sighed and looked at him, "You look ready."

"I am ready; for our duel. You really don't ready yourself." He joked as I rolled my eyes and let Leo go.

"I was sleeping!" I exclaimed and slapped my forehead, "Men... Anyways...would you like breakfast?"

"I want breakfast!" Leo complained as I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Please..."

"Yeah, yeah...Where's Luna though?" I asked, walking into the kitchen.

"She wanted to walk around alone, but don't worry, she's with Yanagi and Tanner." Leo said, giving me a thumbs up as I sighed, "W-what is it?"

"I trust them as much as I trust you with food." I mused as I went into the fridge.

"So, it is a lot, right?" Leo asked as I only smirked and got the supplies, "Hey, answer me."

"Are we going to duel regular-"

"Duel runners this time." I said, interrupting Yusei who raised an eyebrow, "I have a duel runner right now, in the garage."

"So, the guy you were waiting for actually came?" He asked as I nodded, "I can't wait." I looked at him and leaned against the counter table.

"I can't wait to kick your ass." I said with a smirk as I saw one settle on his face as he leaned on the counter too.

"You can't be too overconfident-"

"It's not illegal now, is it?" I asked, tilting my head, my smirk turning into a smile as I saw him smile back...

"Why are you guys looking like that?" Leo suddenly asked as I snapped out of my daze and looked at him, "It was weird."

"You're weird." I replied before turning around and going to cook breakfast.

* * *

><p>I blushed heavily at my...suit...if you can call it that. I glared at Lenrick, who was just smiling.<p>

"I knew you were a pervert-"

"Shut up and appreciate it..." Lenrick said as I sighed and leaned against my bike, "What's up with you? Aren't you happy that you are in the finals?"

"I am, a-and I am excited that I am going to be dueling on my runner, but..." I trailed off...

"Does this have to do with this Yusei guys? Are you guys like friends?" Lenrick asked with a scrunched up face, "I was wondering what is wrong with his hair?"

I chuckled a bit and looked at him, "I believe that it is natural...But, the thing is...I really want to succeed, but I want him to succeed too."

"Are you mackin' on him-"

"Oh, shut up you dumbass!" I shouted, taking off my boots with some struggle and aimed it at him.

"Calm yourself, Cristina. It's all jokes." He said with an exasperated sigh, "But I did get my answer from your action..."

"You are such a mean person." I muttered and walked out of the garage to the hallway and sighed. I looked at the uniform once more before folding it neatly in my hands and looking back at Lenrick who was already walking away.

"Thank you for everything-"

"Don't get sentimental on me...just do your best." He send, slightly waving to me. I smiled and waved back excitedly. I sighed and leaned against the wall-

"Cristina!" Someone said as I snapping my eyes open and saw Luna, "You're match is soon."

"I know- where were you missy?" I demanded, crouching a bit, "I didn't see you this morning..."

"I went to see if I could find Akiza and maybe talk to her. it's like I am connected to her in a way." Luna said before pushing her sleeve up and showing me her mark as I raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you didn't want a tattoo." I teased as she gave me a small glare, "Sorry-"

"Is that what you are going to wear?" Luna asked as I nodded as she smiled, "Can I see it?"

"Well, I am going to put it on anyways, but you can see." I said as she nodded and walked with me down the hallway, "Have you seen Yusei? I only saw him this morning."

"He's working on his bike." She said as I breathed a shaky sigh...

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><p>I slipped on the black suit, bringing it up around my waist. All right, good so far... I reached out to grab my pouch and strapped it around my left leg. I pulled the suit up and put my arms through the arm holes. I stretched a bit and zipped myself up from the front, glaring a bit when it couldn't covers my chest as much as I could.<p>

"Lenrick, you are such a damn perver-"

"Cristina, hurry up!"

"Hey, it's not easy!" I retorted, huffing a bit. I fixed the boots that was part of the suit and sighed; it made me looking kind of taller. I stretched again, trying to get a feel for it. I looked at myself in the mirror and sighed...I was wearing a sleek, form-fitting black riding suit with some white edges, high-heeled boots, and a small amount of cleavage showing…I hope. God, I looked terrible.

"Are you ready-"

"Stop pressuring me! I have like 5 minutes before my duel." I retorted and shook my hair. I grabbed an elastic from the edge of my bed and secured my hair in a tight ponytail, some bangs hanging. I grabbed my black helmet with two stripes going horizontal. I opened the door and slightly frowned as Luna's grin, "What are you happy about?"

"I never really saw you turbo duel before; I can't wait." Luna said as I chuckled and smiled.

"I'm excited to actually…" I said and walked over to the couch before sitting down, "I wonder…if my dad is watching. I know it's a stupid idea and we haven't talked in like forever. But…I wonder if he's thinking about me…if he knows that I am in this tournament-"

"Cristina. You must be really worried if you start talking like this." Luna said, sitting next to me, "Why are you talking about this now? You are only making yourself more nervous."

"Lunie! I can't help it." I whined, pushing her a little, "This is getting crazy-"

"What is getting crazy?" I heard Yusei asked as I got off the chairs and slightly peeked, glaring at him, "Cristina?"

"You- you just don't pop in like that! I was talking with Luna! How'd you get in here?" I demanded as I saw him raise an eyebrow.

"I do have a key. I just wanted to talk to you in private, if you don't mind Lu-"

"Bye Cristina, bye Yusei, good luck!" The young girl said quickly before rushing out of the room as I glared; she left me alone…

"Hey…why are you hiding?" He asked, getting closer to the couch, "Are you sure you are okay?"

"The anxiety is getting to me. I am pumped and then I am nervous." I said with a slight awkward chuckle. I saw he tilt his head and look at me.

"You're wearing black…" He said as I rolled my eyes. I sucked it up and stood up straight, putting my hands on my hips, "So, this is your suit…You look nice."

"Thanks." I said, blushing a bit before punching his arm, "But…what do you want, since you want to talk in hush-hush..."

"I wanted to talk about us..." He said, as I felt my heart beating too fast. "…when we duel." Never mind, disappointment has settled in… "What's going to happen after that?"

"Hmm, hopefully…" I started, walking towards him, crossing my arms, "We won't have any regrets of what happen and still be close no matter what… We keep on going on and cheer on the other when they verse Jack and kick his ass to the curve."

"Is that a promise?" Yusei asked, holding out his pinky as I giggled and nodded, "Then let's swear it."

"All right, ." I said, lacing my pinky with his and looked at him, "I promise; it that good enough for you?"

"It is." He said as I let go and smiled at him, "But I have a feeling that you are going to hit me when the battle is over…"

"Ha!" I said with a large grin that made his smile turn into a thin line, "What gave you that idea?"

"I'll take that as a yes…"

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><p>I looked at Yusei who was about to head to his bike and position...<p>

"Good luck…" I said as he looked over his shoulder. I saw him nod before turning around and walking back to me. I raised an eyebrow and put my hands on my lips, "Don't tell me you got the jitters-"

"Good luck." He said, grabbing my arms and pulling me in a small hug as I smiled a bit and patted his back. He let go and held me in arms length.

"Ready to give it your all? Don't hold back." He said as I smirked.

"What kind of girl do you take me for?" I joked, grinning at him, "But I won't hold back…you can count on that." I stepped away from him and slipped on my helmet and knocked on it, "Let's get this show on the road!"

"Right." He said, putting on his red helmet and walking away and…I felt overwhelming nerves…not because of the people watching, or that I am against a close friend of mine, but… the fear of versing him…Yeah, he's a nice guy and all, but…he's so serious when dueling. I tend to get serious too, but…it's like nothing can break him…This is why this man is amazing at what he does. I walked into the garage and smiled at my baby-I mean car… I forgot about my past thoughts and squealed at the thought of driving top speed in this thing. I jumped down the steps and walked closer to it, letting my hand glide over its side. I shook my head, finally coming to my senses that I have a duel. I straddled my bike and got my turned it on, laughing in delight when the engine roared like a beast; it was beautiful. I saw that my duel disk was already in place and ready to be used. I saw the garage door open and saw security pointing to where I was suppose to go. I nodded and followed his directions as I stopped from the entrance where a duel runner was supposed to enter. I heard loud explosions and saw fireworks in the air; they are really going all out this time.

"YEAH! It's finally time for the finals, and it is going to be a good one! Another turbo duels, ladies and gentleman! The winner of this next match gets to one to the ultimate showdown. A one-on-one, no holding back duel with the master of faster himself; Jack Atlas! Our first finalist is the shooting star from the satellite, Yusei Fudo!" The announcer said, not making me feel any better as I groaned; butterflies in my stomach. I heard loud cheering and saw a red bike; that must be Yusei…who else would it be?

"But he's not going against an easy opponent; oh no sir! Yusei is going against the fire that shines bright no matter where she goes; Cristina Witen!" That is my cue. I revved the engine and made my way through the entrance, before gasping at the sight of people. I guess dueling on foot will be different than dueling on bikes. I steady myself in the air as I landed a little rough, but it was okay. I was a little far behind Yusei, like where I was. I looked at him before looking up and being distracted by the…audience; there was mixed emotions, but one thing could be clear…They wanted to see a good duel-

"Hey." I heard Yusei call out as I looked back to them, "Don't worry about them; just focus on you and me, all right?" I blushed and nodded, remembering my dream from today… I just managed to turn a nice advice into something not so nice…

"All right…" I said, revving my engine, smirking at him, and I saw a small smirk from the corner of his mouth. I looked up, watching the red light… I haven't been on a duel runner for a while. Turbo dueling… the first word that pops up in my mind is connection. I heard that duelists emotions are connected to each other…lets test that theory. I felt my mind go blank when the light turned green and my instincts taking over…

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><p>Review and feed back is appreciated please!<p> 


	16. Chapter 16

Cristina's Pov~

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><p>I felt very compelled to write another chapter because your review were all so nice! *_* This is the second to last chapter before I take a break because of the Thanksgiving weekend, but you never know! Please review and give me feedback!<p>

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><p>The blurring of images had token a while to get use to, but the thrill of the speed was amazing. Just being able to go this fast without getting in trouble was extraordinary! No limits…well, there are, but you get the idea. My heart was pounding, but it felt good. It made me feel more connected with my cards. Drawing every card made me feel like my life was on the line, and just a feeling to crush my opponent. Though, I didn't want to crush my opponent completely; just give him a hard time. His red duel runner was usually right next to me or in front, but never back; I made sure of that. I didn't want him to have an advantage if he was in the back and give me a false sense of hope. His azure eyes were cautious, scanning every card carefully, keeping a poker face all the time. His face hardly showed emotions or a sign of overconfidence; I couldn't say the same for myself. He played each card like it was life or death, and it seemed like life or death… Despite his poker face and his level-headed attitude, I could tell when he was teasing or is playing around. It was very hard, but I think I know Yusei Fudo pretty well…His style of dueling was different, compared to me. He doesn't act on impulse. It seems like he is trying to be one step ahead of me. He always has this little smirk when he draws a card; I noticed, and his Synchro summoning had…ticked me off. These summoning really… riled me up. They were amazing and all, but I haven't been in a duel where one man has Synchro summon monsters more than 5 times… His monster's attacks were vicious, but I dodged most of them, almost losing my momentum. I summoned Uria. I did my best to make Uria stayed. Hell, I made sure that he stayed. Yusei had summoned his remarkable Stardust Dragon. Although, having two dragons on the field was sort of bad; our signs started to burn, but it felt oddly at peace. It made me feel more alive than normal and I started to laugh. It was not a rude laugh, but the laugh of enjoyment. The duel had progressed and I was so relaxed. I don't know how long I had dueled Yusei, but all I know is my bike had smoke coming out of it and I was thrown off of it, but only a few feet. I blinked my eyes rapidly and shook my head before sitting up. I forcefully took off my helmet and looked at the running figure of Yusei. It… killed me, knowing that I lost, but...<p>

"Hey, Cristina, are you okay?" I heard Yusei asked as I looked at him and smiled sadly before looking down at his hands.

"Define okay…" I said, before sighing, "I'm fine. I am going to be sour about it. Losing isn't something I can brush off and fix it with a smile…thought, I have learned something from it…"

"What's that?" Yusei asked, helping me up as I smiled brightly at him.

"I know that you will beat Jack Atlas with no problem…"

"It's good to know that I have your support."

"You always have my support. But…" I punched him hard on the shoulder as he groaned, "I still want my revenge."

"Of course." He muttered, rubbing his arm and looked around. I blinked at him in confusion before looking back at the crowd who were just yelling in excitement, though, it looks like they had been hit by a hurricane a little; was it because of our duel?

"I haven't noticed that before."

"So you listened to me…"

"Well…I haven't heard good advice like that ever since I was told not to mix pop rocks and Coke." I mused as he chuckled, "Let's go, the sooner I get out of here, the sooner I can get into better clothing." I walked over to my bike and made it perpendicular to the floor. I moved the smoke away and coughed a bit. I heard the announcer talking, but I ignored him to my fullest. I rolled my bike around and towards the place I had entered.

"It suits you." He complimented as I blushed a bit and grinned.

"Such a charmer, Yusei…" I muttered, picking up my helmet and waving it to the crowd.

* * *

><p>"You lost!" Leo whined, hugging me around my waist, "I thought you were going to win!"<p>

"Yeah, well…it's fine with me." I said with a shrug, pushing him away slightly so I could put on my jacket, "Wait…I thought you were going to cheer Yusei on?"

"I wanted to cheer you on!" He argued as I raised an eyebrow, "…I was sort of cheering Yusei on…"

"Right." I said, patting his head and stretched, "Well, at least I don't have to worry about Jack, Yusei can take care of him; I know he ca-…why are you smiling like that?"

"You did it!" Leo yelled, pointing a finger at me, "You did the smiling thing!"

"What smiling thing?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"Whenever you watch those weird romance movies, you have this weird smile; you are doing it when you mentioned Yusei!" Leo said with a grin, "You like him-"

"I do not! I-I just respect him as a duelist!" I said with a pout, crossing my arms.

"And I wear make-up in my sleep." Leo said sarcastically, "You like him-"

"Brat!" I shouted, getting him in a headlock and rubbing his head furiously, "Stop saying such words!"

"Y-you're in denial-"

"You're lying-"

"Cristina!" Yusei said, busting into the room that made me a little petrified.

"Yusei, knock next time-*why so serious?" I asked, tilting my head at him and letting go of Leo.

"You have to get out of here." Yusei said, walking a bit closer as I raised an eyebrow, "Meet up with Luna down the hallway and leave."

"Wait, why-"

"Does it have to do with that weird tattoo thing?" Leo asked.

"That's why you guys have to get out of here, like now." Yusei said and I narrowed my eyes; if it really has to do with the marks, why is it better to separate? "I am thinking it's not good for signers to be near each other. Think of what happened during my duel with Akiza and ours."

"All right, but do you know what's going on?" I asked, walking towards the door.

"I'll tell you once I talk to Goodwin-"

"Are you serious? That guy is a bit of the strange side." I said as he looked at me.

"I just need to know why we have these marks on our arms, and my gut is telling me he knows about it." He said as I sighed and nodded.

"For now, head towards Blister's place and don't stop." Yusei said as I nodded and opened the door and looked at Yusei, who was already running.

"Let's go meet up with your sister." I told Leo as he nodded and started to run down the hallway with me…

"Hey, hey; I see them!" Leo shouted as I saw Luna and the others leaving the spot.

"Guys." I called out, catching up to them and stopping a little, panting a bit, "Did you get the news from Yus?"

"Yus?" Leo questioned as I ignored him; that was a dumb move on my part.

"Yeah, we did. We better stick close." Yanagi said as I nodded and started to walk with them.

"Stop right there!" Someone said as I groaned by the appearance of people in black suit. They all had black shades and kind of looked the same.

"You weren't planning to leave, were you?" The short clown asked as I narrowed my eyes.

"What if we were, clown-face?" I demanded, putting my hand near my pouch.

"If you attack us Cristina, I am afraid that I will have to use force." Lazar said as I saw some of the men in suits putting their hands on their holster, "I am sure that Mr. Goodwin would want you to stay and enjoy the rest of the tournament." He started to chuckle and I had enough. I walked up to him and glared at him.

"You tell Goodwin that we are sick of his stupid games and telling us what to do." I said, pulling out one of my knives and pointing at the small body man.

"Hey, did you know that Yusei has friends back at the Satellite?" Lazar asked calmly. I grabbed his coat tightly and pushed him away, "I heard that they were missing a few days ago… I hope nothing BAD happens to them."

"Are you asking for a death wish?" I demanded as Lazar glared.

"I think it would be best if you returned to your seats now." Lazar said harshly. Oh, man. This guy is gonna get it. I started to walk towards him until, a guy grabbed my arm. I glared at the suit before getting out of his grip harshly.

"You are so lucky that there are rules against killing." I muttered, walking back to the arena.

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><p>"There's the golden boy." I said, seeing Yusei pull up…<p>

"I wonder if Goodwin told him what he wanted to know." Tanner said, crossing his arms. Jack pulled up and I glared at that white duel runner… If only looks can kill…

"All right, it's time to activate…the speed world field spell!" The announcer said as I slouched back into my seat, "This is the moment…Will Jack Atlas continue to reign as the king of turbo duels, or will he be dethroned by Satellite shooting sta. It's time to find out!"

The lights quickly turned from red to green as the duel started, Jack a little up ahead than Yusei… I bit my lip and hoped that Yusei would be the victor…

The duel had started to get more crazy, as purple clouds had started to come, but I sort of ignored that; bad choice…a red…figure had appeared.

"Is that…" I couldn't finish my sentence as my mark started to glow very brightly, and so did Luna's. "What is the crimson dragon doing here?" I stared at my mark as it started to get brighter and I was soon blinded by light…then…I was in this red…circle of a bubble.

"Why am I floating?" I asked and looked over to see Akiza and Luna, "What's going on?"

"I-I don't know." Akiza answered truthfully as I groaned.

I looked down and saw… "Yusei…! And Jack! Weren't you guys just dueling?" We suddenly appeared to a tall castle-like structure.

"Cristina, I am getting scared." Luna said as I nodded, a bit speechless. I saw people bowing down to this bright red object in the sky. We passed them and were currently over the…satellite? And that was not even the weirdest part; we are following a yellow line-platform. I raised an eyebrow as I saw a streak of purple flames.

"Cristina, look there." Akiza said as I resisted the urge to say a smart-ass comment; I was already looking down; I saw a shape of a spider and shivered, "Is that a giant spider surrounding New Domino city?"

"I think so…" I said. I saw cards appearing and narrowed my eyes; are these idiots really dueling? Though…I don't mind… I saw Jack attacking Stardust dragon and then a purple thing surrounding Yusei.

"Yusei." Luna said as I bit my lip.

"I think he's hurt, really." I told them, "It's like when you duel people, Akiza."

"Yeah…" Was all she said.

I blinked and smiled at the big screen in front of me.

"Why are you smiling?" Leo demanded, "You were gone and now you are smiling?"

"I am smiling because… Yusei won!" I said with a big grin, "No big deal." I stood up and cheered loudly, waving my arms, knowing that he might not see me from this far, despite the fact that there are no people, but that wink and smile in my direction makes me think otherwise…


	17. Chapter 17

Heyy...Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Sorry for the short chapter, but i hope it is worth your wait. I will have to hold off this story because I gotta work on my other one. I would like to give special thanks to **Elizabeth Kururugi** and **xxOMGgalxx** and dedicated romance portions of this to them!

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><p>Cristina's Pov~<p>

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><p>I wasted no time trying to find my way onto the track. I was feeling more energized after whatever happened. I ran down the long corridor and towards the back where the bike garages are. I went to where the entrance of where turbo duelists are supposes to go and saw the man himself.<p>

"Yusei!" I shouted, waving erratically.

"Hey, is everyone one okay-" I leaped towards him and encircled my arms around his neck as I felt his arms on my back, "Is everything all right?"

"Yeah, of course." I said, leaning back to look at him, "I just wanted to hug you first before any of your fan girls, which you may have, have the chance; I have bragging rights."

"I can imagine you doing that." He said as I chuckled, but blushed when I felt his arms around my waist, "D-do you remember what we talked about?"

"We talked a lot of times." I said as he smirked.

"When we were at the park…and…" He trailed off as I smiled a bit, "I thought about it…and I am not sure how I can put it into words…"

"Well…I heard that actions speak louder than words." I said with a sly grin, "I'm just saying it out there…"

I went onto my tippy toes as I saw him bent his head forwa-

"Yusei!" I heard Leo yell as I just dropped in Yusei's arms and looked at him. He just smiled and let me go as I shook my head, trying to shake off the blush.

"Hey guys, are you okay?" Yusei asked.

"No, you are about to face a far new enemy!" Yanagi yelled and then pointed to the horror as I smirked, "The media!" They railing hit the ground as they started to run at us, but I couldn't help but laugh at Yusei's expression.

"You better rev it up." Tanner said, rolling Yusei's duel runner.

"Let's go." I said, grabbing Yusei's arm and running away from the horde; I am glad that I didn't win actually…That blonde chick was giving me the creeps.

* * *

><p>"Where are we?" Dexter asked<p>

"We're in an abandoned service tunnel." Tanner said, "Cristina, what's going to happen to your bike-"

"A friend is going to handle it; it's okay." I said, "I think… Hey, Tanner, how did you know it was down here?"

"A guy like me knows these things." Tanner said as I smiled and crossed my arms, "That and Blister told me…"

"I have no idea what happened to you in that light, but I am just thrilled that you won the tournament; no hard feeling, Cristina." Yanagi said as I gave him a blank stare.

"Keep on mentioning it and there will be." I said as he gave me a fearful look.

"We knew you could do it, Yusei." Leo gloated, "You're one of the best duelist I have ever seen. You are like my hero!"

"Forget the tournament." Tanner said, "The whole thing was a setup on Goodwin's doing. Yusei only dueled because Goodwin forced him by capturing his friends."

"Until we figure out what the whole story is… we have to lay low and find a place to stay." I said and looked around, "Anyone got suggestions?"

"We can stay at Blister's hideout." Tanner offered, "Leo, Cristina, and Luna. You guys should probably stay with us too…"

"Are you serious? Awesome, it will be like that time when we slept over Cristina's apartment and-" I walked over to Leo and covered his mouth as everyone looks over…

"What…" I asked in an innocent manner before we started to walk again. I slapped the back of Leo's head and catched up to the group.

"Yusei…I don't know how, but I was able to see inside that weird light…I saw you guys dueling and Cristina and Akiza were with me." Luna said as Yusei appeared shocked, which shocked me; I thought he could see us or hear us… "We saw the Satellite being destroyed…That was the future, wasn't it?"

"I have no idea…but if that was some kind of future that is going to happen, we have to stop it; no matter what." Yusei said, looking down at his hands, "I can't let that happen."

"And we won't…" I assured him as he nodded…

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><p>We made it to Blister's hideout and I sighed; finally. We have been walking for like hours underground.<p>

"Now, don't mind my drawing because I am not a good artist, but…it almost looks like it." Yanagi said as I slowly looked over my shoulder, "The dragon seal looks something like this."

I tilted my head at the picture and my eyes widened, that's the dragon seal?

"That's on my arm." I said, rolling down my black sleeve to show them, "Though, my is a bit more… artistic…"

"That's the dragon's head." Yusei said as I looked at him in confusion.

"What is it? What are you talking about?" Leo asked, not seeing the head of the dragon.

"Look." Yusei said, taking off his glove and rolling up his sleeve to show us his mark. It didn't look like a dragon head to me, but…I will go with it.

"That looks just like it." Leo said in awe, "Hey, Luna. Let's see yours." I walked over to Luna and saw that hers resembled to a claw.

"Luna's mark looks like the claw thingy…" Leo added, "What's that mean?"

"According to legend, the crimson dragon's head, wings, legs, tail, and body were split into 6 parts, and then sealed away as marks on the original signers. There marks were then passed down through the generations." Yanagi explained as I frowned; I got picked by destiny…? That's dumb.

"But we only know about 5 signers…so how was the crimson dragon summoned if only 5 of them were gathered?" Tanner asked as I had to admit, that was a confusing thing.

"I guess the 5th signer must have been somewhere in that arena." Yanagi said as I raised my eyebrows.

"So, Luna is a signer, Jack's a signer, Cristina's a signer, Akiza's a signer, and Yusei's a signer." Leo counted, "So who's the last signer…? Oh, maybe it's me, maybe it's me! Maybe I have a mark somewhere!" Leo shouted, checking his stomach as I shook my head, idiot… I saw Luna falling back and catched her quickly.

"Lunie, are you okay?" I asked in worry, checking her forehead.

"Luna!" Leo cried out, coming to my side, "Luna, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing-"

"Nothing…You were about to make-out with the floor." I teased as she gave me a small smile.

"I am just tired or something." Luna said as I made sure she steadied herself.

"Well, that's understandable… We all had a crazy couple of days; let's try to get some rest." Tanner said as I agreed and stood up, seeing the sun coming down slowly…

* * *

><p>"Yeah…just drop it off in the morning…Thanks, Len." I said quietly before hanging up and rubbing my eyes, yawning a bit.<p>

"You should get some sleep." Yusei said as I looked over my shoulder. I chuckled a bit and shook my head.

"I'm fine. I was talking to Lenrick about getting my bike; should be here early morning hopefully." I said. I stretched a bit and closed my eyes, yawning again, "What are you doing awake, Mr. Champion?"

"I was just looking at the drawing." He said with a small smile, "I can't help but wonder who the last signer is? Wouldn't they be in the tournament?"

"They probably would, but…maybe Goodwin doesn't know everything." I said with a shrug, "I hope the last one isn't a jerk…not that I am saying you are!" I covered my mouth and looked over to Luna who simply turned in her sleep, "Whoops." Yusei only chuckled and held his out towards me since I was sitting on the couch. I took his hand as he pulled me up close to him. I smiled a bit when I felt his arms around my waist…

"So…King of Turbo dueling…" I started, seeing his eyebrows raising a little high, "Are you expecting a reward…?"

"No." He said, "Just…being right here right now with you is already a reward."

"You…" I scrunched up my face and flicked his nose lightly, "Stop being so damn smooth?"

"Smooth?" He asked in confusion.

"Yes, smooth. You know you are doing it! Yusei, you sneak-"

"Leo did mention that you talk a lot when you are nervous." Yusei said as I frowned at him and stuck my tongue out at him. I heard him chuckle before he leaned closer to me. I gather my nerves that were in tight knots. I leaned in closer and closed my eyes. I felt his breath on my face before I felt something pressed down on my lips lightly before I reacted after that. I back away and felt my face get hot as I wrapped my arms around his neck. I smiled at him before he smiled back.

"That…that was…" I didn't really finish my sentence before I felt his lips once again. I smiled into the kiss and made sure I kissed back. I'm not going to say some cheesy line that 'fireworks had exploded' or 'there was butterflies in my stomach.' But… it was better than anything else that happened to me. I leaned back and breathed again for air before giggling slightly, leaning my forehead with his.

"So…" I started…

"So…what's on your mind?" He asked as I closed my eyes before opening them again.

"Are we…together in a way?" I asked, tilting my head slightly as he chuckled.

"If you want too-"

"Do I have to kiss you again to get a straight answer from you?" I asked in a serious manner as he smirked.

"What's stopping you?" He replied as I rolled my eyes and kissing him again as I felt his arms around my waist tightened. I felt my hands go up to his hair to deepen the kiss. I let go of him slowly, blushing lightly. I looked out the window before walking closer, smiling at the moon…though, there was…something shining from the ground outside…there was a man outside, with a glowing arm-

"Yusei, come here." I said as he quickly came over. I pointed out the window and towards the man, "Who do you think he is?"

"A possible signer…" Yusei muttered. Suddenly, the guy had started to run, "Hey…stay here."

"Oh, no…Are you serious-"

"I don't want you to get hurt." He said as he started to run and left the hideout… Yusei does not know me that well… I grabbed my deck and duel disk from the table and quickly left the hideout also, barely seeing Yusei's figure turning a corner. I rolled my neck and started to follow closely...


	18. Chapter 18

I know...I am sorry for the wait that I put you through. I had too many tests last week, but it will be all over next week becuase of vacation. I will try to type as much as i can. Sorry for the wait!

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><p>Cristina's Pov~<p>

I should have stretched before running after him because I think I pulled a muscle, but never mind that. It was hard to keep your distance from someone while following because they stop for some unknown reason and continues. I kept following Yusei from a distance, and took a sharp left as he took one. I suddenly realized that we were near a parking garage. I panted a bit, and put my hands on my knees.

"Hey, stop running!" I heard Yusei say as I saw him starting to run towards the parking lot as I groaned; I could say the same thing for him! I slowed my pace a bit as I went up the floors, looking behind my back if there was anyone following me or the guy manage to get behind my back. I slowly made my way towards the back of a van, and looked over the side. Damn it Yusei, you better know what you are getting yourself into… I gasped quietly when I saw the hooded figure coming from the shadows with a duel disk strapped to his left arm. His cape was strange a bit; it had a weird marking in the front.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that." Yusei said, clenching his fist a bit as the guy laughed evilly. Yusei really thinks he's the final signer…I have my doubts already. This guy has a shady character about him, "Who are you…? I saw the glow on your arm, are you the fifth signer?"

"I am a shadow drone, and if you seek the truth, my master says you must duel me for it." The creep guy said, activating his duel disk…

"Why am I not surprised." Yusei said, "All right buddy, you got yourself a duel" Yusei activated his also as looked over to the other guy and narrowed my eyes. I wonder who is master is?

"Let's do this!" They both shouted as I went wide-eyes when a circle of what appeared to be purple flames surrounded the two. This isn't normal, and neither is this guy… I grunted a bit when I felt my arm started to sting a bit and glow, and I saw Yusei's arm doing the same thing.

"Who are you and what's going on?" Yusei demanded, looking around, and I swore under my breath as we made eye-contact, "Cristina…?"

"You and I have been offered up by the light and placed inside the energy ring of the eternal shadow. I'm afraid there is no turning back now." The man said calmly, as if this was a normal day occurrence.

"What are you talking about?" Yusei asked as I was thinking about that too.

"You'll see." The guy said with a smirk, "I summon Blizzard Lizard in defense mode."

I stopped crouching and looked over at the two, having faith that Yusei better win, or I will chop up his ass into little pieces…

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><p>During the middle of the duel, I heard a car and looked over the edge. Must be some late-nighters I guess. I ignored it, but was suddenly creeped out when I heard footsteps. I looked at the entrance and raised an eyebrow when I saw a girl with…glasses wheezing a bit.<p>

"What's going on?" She asked to no one in particular.

"Just a battle." I answered as she shrieked a bit and clutched her chest, "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, don't do that, you almost scared me-You're Cristina! The girl who lost to Yusei Fudo in the finals!" She said as I felt my eyebrow twitch in annoyance, "S-sorry, I'm Carly. Can I interview you-"

"No." I simply said, crossing my arms as I heard her whine a bit.

"Please, I won't ask personal question, just what you like to do and other random questions. Can I inter-"

"Nope. Final answer." I said and looked over to the battle…

"It's some sort of underground duel." She muttered, fixing her glasses, "Wait… Yusei, what is he doing here!"

"He's uh…dueling?" I answered in a not so sure tone because telling her the whole truth just might make her think that I am crazy. What she doesn't know won't hurt her.

"Stay cool, Carly. Just start recording." She told herself as she pulled out a cam-recorder as I went wide-eyes, are you serious? "This is field reporter, Carly Carmein coming to you live from uh…some kind of parking garage thing I guess, but the big story here is New Domino newest champ in some underground duel with uh…some guy in-in a bathrobe with a glowing arm like Yusei and Cristina's-"

"Hey, don't mention my name!" I told her, reaching out to get the cam-recorder as she moved out of the way.

"Hey, this is probably the story of the lifetime-"

"Carly, give that thing to me, or there will be trouble." I threatened as she gulped and step back.

"Can I record just a little more-" I narrowed my eyes at her and reached towards the cam-recorder. She just wouldn't let it go. It got to the point where I took out one of my small knives.

"Wait, please. This might just save me. This story. I know you think I am just like every other reporter, but I am not. I am trying to get to the bottom of this conspiracy Goodwin is trying to hide and reveal to the world that he really is." She pleaded as I groaned and crossed my arms and put my knife away…

"But I get to see the video before you leave." I said as she nodded and started to record again with a bright smile. This was probably a bad idea. When one of the other guy's monster was destroyed, a gust of wind pushed us a little, but flipped the mini-van I was hiding under towards us. I yelped and pushed her out of the way before ducking, closing my eyes. I opened my eyes and saw that the car hadn't crushed me because it was stopped by another car. I took in a breath of relief before slowly sliding myself out of the wedge.

"God, I am going to kill that guy." I muttered, referring to Yusei as I shook my head and pulled myself out. I wasn't seriously hurt or anything, just a few bruises here and there and some scrapes. I looked over and saw Carly shaking, but fine, "Hey, you okay?"

"Yes, I am, but what about you? You should go to a hospital-" I shook my head and stared at the duel in front of us.

"No, I won't leave Yusei, besides, it's just a few scrapes; I'll survive." I told her as she nodded and kept recording…

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><p>~~Ending Duel~<p>

I couldn't help but cheer when the guy's points went to 0.

"Woah. It looks like Yusei just won the match." Carly said as I blew a raspberry at her, of course he did. God knows what would happen to him if he didn't, "And it's on tape! I just got the scoop of the century."

"But you are not leaving until I see that thing." I warned her before running over to Yusei. I increased my speed a bit when the flaming circle went away. I slowed down when he walked over to the other guy that was on the floor. Though, it was slightly scary when he grabbed his shirt tightly and raised him.

"Wake up." Yusei demanded as I saw the guy's face clearer. The guy grunted before opening his eyes, "Hey, you owe me some answers, you got that? Start talking."

"Start talking about what?" The guy asked in a confused daze as I crouched down near the two. The grabbed grabbed his shoulder once Yusei let go, "Who are you? What am I doing here?"

"Stop fooling around and tell me what your spider mark has to do with the Satellite?" Yusei asked as I looked down on the other guy's arm.

"Well…not to be the bearer of bad news, but there is no mark on his arm no more. It disappeared." I told Yusei as he looked down and gasped a bit.

"Hi, I'm Carly Carmein and I was hoping you would tell me what its like to be the first amateur to take on Domino City's champ-" I couldn't stand this reporter anymore. Well, I couldn't stand any reporters. They always ask so many questions.

"And why are you asking?" Yusei asked as Carly crouched

"Well because I am a world renowned reporter and this is gonna be my biggest story ever." Carly said and I couldn't help but shake my head once she pulled out a mike, "Now, perhaps you wouldn't mind answering a few things-"

"Don't do it, Yusei. She lost too many screws around her head." I said, folding my arms as she ignored me.

"First, do you always use Nitro Warrior as a triple synchro-" I didn't bother to listen to her questioned as I sighed, and rubbed my head before sitting on the ground and crossing my legs which laid out straight. I saw something glowing and looked down at his duel disk. I saw Yusei grabbing the cards from the duel disk as I looked over his shoulder, moving a bit closer.

"His cards look nothing like what I saw…" I told Yusei as he nodded, but kept looking.

"…a spider? Wait, that reminds me of something. I was down at the alley waiting for a couple of duel buddies when out of nowhere…it felt like some kind of spider stung me of something and then…" The guy suddenly stopped himself before clutching his head.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked, a bit concerned for the ignorant duelist… I heard police sirens and groaned. I think it is going to involve more running.

"I think you better get out of here before they start asking questions." Yusei said as a look of dismay came onto Carly's face.

"But-but my interview-"

"We will finish it later. Lets go Cristina." Yusei said as I nodded and followed after him, giving Carly a small wave. I stopped when I saw Yusei jump from-no way.

"Yusei, you can't be serious." I said as I saw a small smirk on his lips, "And you are smirking, god, you are so dea-"

"Cristina. It's jump and let me catch you or let the police put you in custody…" Yusei said as I pouted and glared at him.

"If I die…" I muttered before jumping and grunted a bit from the force as I landed in his arms. I glared at his smirking face.

"I knew you would jump." He said before putting me down and grabbing my arm as we ran. I looked at him and gave him a disbelieving look, "Okay, some faith."

"And what if I didn't?" I asked, smirking.

"I guess I would have to drag you down from there." He said as I heard teasing in his voice as I rolled my eyes, but smiled.

* * *

><p>"I know that Leo is going to ask some questions." I said as Yusei smirk before stopping me by grabbing my forearm gently, "Yes?" his smirked suddenly dropped and his face was ever-so-serious.<p>

"What if there are more of them?" He asked as I shrugged and looked at him.

"We will just handle them one by one. We can't let Satellite turn into what we saw." I said in a nonchalant as he nodded.

"But what if they duel you…" He said as I sighed.

"I will do what I do with every other duel. Kick their ass." I said, giving him a small smile.

"But you saw what happened when I went against him. It is dangerous and you can get hurt. Like last night. What were you thinking-?"

"Yusei. I may be your girl, but you must know me well-enough that I am not going to stand around and do nothing. Don't worry about me; I have knives in my pocket." I said as he chuckled before kissing on my cheek before entering inside the apartment. I did a silent cheer before following him inside.

"Hey, where were you guys last night. I was getting worried." Tanner said, but it was weird hearing it from a large guy like him.

"There was a really strange-"

"Emphasis on strange." I interrupted Yusei as he raised an eyebrow, "Just helping you out."

"Well, there was a really STRANGE guy last night and I followed him, in which Cristina thought it would be a good idea to follow me." Yusei said, giving me a disapproving look as I smiled at him.

"What happened? Did he challenge you to a duel?" Tanner asked as I decided to take a quick nap on the couch. I had too much encounters with death for one night…

"Please don't go." Leo asked as I rubbed my eyes and yawned silently and looked around. All I saw were worried faces and a determined look from Yusei. Only one word could describe what is about to happen…Adventure.

"Where you going this time?" I asked with a loud yawn and lazily waved towards the twins before looking at Yusei. I narrowed my eyes as he looked back before sighing.

"I have to go to the Satellite ALONE. The people there need me." Yusei said as I crossed my arms and pouted…

"Stay here, you will be safer in the city." Leo said, "Cause who knows what's out there."

"He's right. Don't leave. What if you get stuck and never come back again?" Luna asked as I frowned; that isn't a pleasant thought… Yusei walked over to them and crouched down, putting his hands on their shoulders.

"Don't worry. In fact, I already made arrangements for some backup." Yusei said as I looked at him with a small smirk.

"You're getting a body guard?" Luna asked as I couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of Yusei having a body guard. I heard police sirens outside and stood up. I opened the window and saw squad cars and bikes.

"Looks like my ride is here." He muttered as I looked at Yusei and back at Officer Trudge…

"He looks a bit angry." I mused as Yusei chuckled.

"He always looks angry." He said as I nodded and laughed when Trudge started to talk into the Megaphone.

"Don't laugh at me, girly!" Trudge said as I smirked.

"What are you gonna do about it?" I retorted as I heard him growl.

"Cristina, it is not wise to get him mad." Yanagi said as I smiled.

"I just like how he is easily provoked." I said, propping my head up with my chin.

"Trudge is your protection?" Tanner asked in disbelief.

"He's more… if he gets me to Goodwin safetly. We just might have to call Trudge one of the good guys." Yusei said as I looked at him in disbelief; that is a big doubt, " Cristina, I want you to promise me that you will stay here."

"I am not good with promises-"

"She's the best!" Luna and Leo said, not helping me at all as I glared at them, "Sorry."

I raised an eyebrow when Yusei stuck his pinky out towards me, "You want me to your finger off? 'Cause I can do it-"

"Pinky promise me that you will not follow me…" He said, "You don't need to be involved in this."

"You better come back in one piece or I will-"

"Chop you into pieces." He finished as I smiled and sighed. I laced pinky's with him before letting go.

"I promise I won't follow you." I said in a bored voice as he smiled.

"I will be back before you know it." He said as he kissed me on the lips before leaving. I smiled and closed my eyes.

"Wait…You guys are going out?" Leo asked, grabbing his hair, "And you guys just kissed….Ew!"

"Leo, shut up!" I said, grabbing his cheeks and squeezing them painfully, "Just wait until you get a girlfriend!"

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><p>Review please!<p> 


	19. Chapter 19

All right, guys! Sorry for this extremely long wait! I have been slacking and I apologize, but I will try to juggle all my three main stories at the same time! Review will be appreciated about my story. Constructive and nice criticism though!

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><p>Cristina's Pov~<p>

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><p>I tapped my foot impatiently as I leaned against the wall where the gang was hiding. It was dark out and there was no one around. I looked up at the sky and growled slightly, crossing my arms. I knew I shouldn't have left my duel runner back at the stadium; Len is probably too lazy to get it for me. I looked down the street when I saw dim lights of a truck. They flashed twice and I smiled; forget that last thought. The truck pulled up in front of me before stopping. I heard the door being opened then closed with a loud slam. I walked over there and glared at Lenrick who started to stretch his arms over his head.<p>

"What? Is it illegal to stretch in public now?" He asked as I scoffed and punched his shoulder slightly before going towards the back of the truck, "Hey, I deserve a little thank you at least."

"You too forever." I complained, unlatching the hatch of the truck as I opened the doors. I climbed inside and removed the gray sheet that was over my duel runner, "What took you so long? Was there an Anger management convention in town?"

"Only you would know." He retorted before climbing inside, "Do you know how hard it is to get a break at work. My boss works me to death!"

"Len...I honestly don't care. Sorry." I told him and started to roll out my bike out of the back. I gently pushed it to the cement as I grabbed my helmet, "Thanks anyways; I owe you one-"

"No, you owe me a lot, Cristina. Besides, why do you even need your bike? I thought you were trying to stay low." He commented as I gave him a slight grin, "Does this involve sneaking?"

"Maybe... I'll give you more details later." I assured him and gave him a slight hug, "Stay safe!"

"You too." He said before going back to the truck. I turned on my duel runner and sighed in content; I missed my baby. I revved the engine before speeding down the road with a smirk forming on my face. I turned a sharp left, heading towards the city. I slowed down a bit and bit my lip...If I was Yusei...and I wanted to meet Goodwin...where would I go? I whined in frustration as I couldn't think of anything before something clicked in my head. It had to be either the hospital to see Jack. That is Goodwin's favorite toy... That sounded wrong, bad Cristina, but no. Yusei wouldn't do that; Jack-ass isn't even awake yet I think. I turned left again, and bit my lip and sighed. I might as well go to the hospital; I need a lead. I sped past traffic, having close calls here and there. I saw that I was close to the hospital by the media; they must been there to see Jack. As soon as I reached the hospital, I blinked in surprise when I saw Carly. I stopped my bike to a halt and glared at the amount of police and guards. Never mind the hospital-... I stopped myself and slapped my forehead. Carly isn't a nurse! I turned my bike around and went in front of Carly, who was pushing a cart that held people.

"Cristina-"

"That better not be a dead body, Carly." I warned as she started to wave her hands.

"No, no! Of course not! I went to the hospital, wanting to get information from Jack about the duel, so I got a rental nurse outfit and sneaked inside. Once I got inside-"

"Carly, I want the main parts; not a story as long as a book." I demanded as she nodded.

"We faced Trudge." Carly said as I nodded slowly...We? I got off my bike and walked towards the cart, "W-wait, don't remove the blanket-" I lifted the blanket and gasped, covering my mouth.

"You stole Jack Atlas! Carly, I don't deal with kidnappers. I may have stole candy bars in my life, but this, this is beyond my level." I whispered harshly to her, accidentally slamming my hand on Jack stomach as I heard him groan, "Whoops." Jack Atlas, the man I hate to eternity. Jack had violet eyes...what I always wanted, and spiked up blonde hair; I have a feeling that spiked up hair is common here.

"Don't hit him; he is still hurt." Carly defended as I rolled my eyes.

"Carly. This man has been tossed like a rag doll. I don't think a little punch from me couldn't hurt." I said to her, but I knew she was right. I don't like being proven wrong. I covered up his face and sighed, "What are you planning to do with him?"

"I- well..." She started as blush formed on her face lightly as I raised an eyebrow...I bet she's a fangirl too, "I was planning to let him rest at my apartment."

"Does he know about this...plot of yours?" I asked as she pointed her fingers together.

"Actually, no, not really. He kind of fainted..." She muttered as I snorted and rolled my eyes.

"Wuss...I think this is called kidnapping... I bid you good luck! I won't be involved if the police comes to get you." I said as she started to stammer. I went back on my bike and turned around, giving her a short wave.

* * *

><p>The sun was slowly rising and there was no sign of Yusei... I was near the ocean and tossed stones into the water. I leaned up against my bike and pouted... Yusei. I know he did mention something about going somewhere... This is what I get for not paying attention. I crossed my arms and sighed, but coughed, wrinkling my nose. I was near the pier, specially, I was near where they got fish. I slapped the sides of my head and sighed. I have to focus...<p>

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><p><em>"Pinky promise me that you will not follow me…" He said, "You don't need to be involved in this."<em>

_"You better come back in one piece or I will-"_

_"Chop you into pieces." He finished as I smiled and sighed. I laced pinky's with him before letting go._

_"I promise I won't follow you." I said in a bored voice as he smiled._

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><p>I did made a promise not to follow him... and I am not exactly doing that because I don't know where the hell he has gone off too, but I do know some information about him. He is Yusei Fudo, and a signer. We saw a vision when he versed Jack. He is the new Dueling King... he was a criminal... because he is not from here...because...<p>

"He is from the Satellite!" I shouted, scaring off some pelicans away. That wasn't the point. The point was that I know where he is, that is I hope he is there. I cheered silently before going towards my bike, going down to the pier to go to the city. I have to go to Goodwin and force him to get me to the Satellite... but I wouldn't know to go after that. I sighed and dropped my head. It was worth trying.

"Damn government, dropping bikes here and there. Satellite doesn't need anymore junk!" Someone yelled, tossing a fish as I grimaced; that was a fat fish, "That was a fine bike too! I could have given my son that. It was sleek and red. If I had thought any better, I would have thought it was that guy's guy who won against Atlas!"

I stopped myself and stared at the fisherman in disbelief... That could be Yusei, but that is still a big doubt. This guy could be drunk for all I know! I have to take a chance. I rolled my bike towards the small boat that was occupied by three guys... I shivered and waved my hand.

"Hello there!" I called out, earning their attention.

"H-hey, you're that girl who lost to Yusei!" A man shouted, dropping a fish in shock as I felt my eyebrow twitch; why am I being remembered as that, "You're name is Cristina Witen. Can I get your autograph-"

"Aren't you a bit old for autographs?" I questioned as the man gave me an offended look.

"You are never too old for autographs! I am a child at heart." He shouted, having a little fit as I put my hands over my eyes...What am I getting myself involved too?

"What is a duelist like you doing here?" Another man asked as I crossed my arms and pointed across the ocean to the landmass that appeared small from here, "What about the Satellite?"

"I want you to get me there on your boat, please." I asked as they gave me looks, "Don't judge me, I have my reasons!"

"We are forbidden to go there." One man whimpered who was twice the size of me... I tilted my head... I can't believe that I thought Jack was a wuss...he still is a bastard though, "New Domino doesn't like it when peopl-"

"Please. I won't resort to begging, but I have a friend there. It's a long story about this friend, but he likes to attract attention; the bad kind. I just want to be there when they need help. They may not ask for it, but they will need it..." I told them, looking at my fingers, "This may get you in trouble, and I'm sorry in advance, but... please." This will be my first act of kindness to it's fullest... God, it feels weird, being so... sentimental. They looked among themselves before looking at me.

"Is there a particular time you want to get there?" One of them asked as I grinned.

"Now would be the best time..."

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><p>"Ms. Witen. We are almost there." The leader of the boat said as I nodded and felt my heart drop... I have stage one of finding Yusei good to go. I got transportation. Stage two is actually finding the devil himself. Three...explaining how I got here... Yep, stage three is going to be the hardest. I blinked when they turned off their lights when we made it. I guess they want their visit to be secret, that's fine with me. I stood up, happy that I was going to get away from the fish and took off the cloth that was on my bike. The good thing about having this bike...It is fast and is black painted, just like a ninja... I have to come up with better comparisons. I moved towards the docking area and looked back at them.<p>

"Thanks for this. I will remember this... I don't even know your names." I told him them as they grinned.

"I'm Frank."

"Micheal"

"My name is Liam..."

"We are brothers forever!" They shouted, hugging each other as I raised an eyebrow... That was... sweet to a degree, before I started to laugh a little. "Good luck on finding your friend."

"Thanks. Good luck with you guys and you fish business." I told them as they nodded. I exited their boat and waved goodbye and chuckled. Frank, Micheal, and Liam... Ha, that stand for FML.

"Cristina, you are being very immature." I told myself and looked around... this is a very bleak place. Very different from New Domino but I am going have to gather up my nerves. I placed my helmet back on and sighed... Lets go on an adventure. I revved my engine and looked for anything that seemed bright and red; it wouldn't be hard to find here. There were no people on the streets or on the sidewalk. It was like a ghost town or something. I was very compelled to scream out in frustration, but who knows what attention I would get. I stopped on the sidewalk and crossed my arms. I forgot my phone, but have my wallet; how does that work? I spotted something red at the corner of my eye. I turned around and drove down the alley where I saw it. I frowned when I only was about 5 guys pushing a red car... I sighed and slapped my duel runner, wincing. I turned my duel runner around-

"Hey, you." Someone yell as someone put their hand on my shoulder. I stopped and rolled my eyes. If they are going to ask for money or tribe to rob me, I am going to flip this whole place upside down, "You look like you are from New Domino."

"Whatever floats your boat, now, please, get your hand off of me-"

"That's a nice looking bike you have, do you mind if I borrow it?" One of them asked before laughing and I raised an eyebrow; his jokes are stupid.

"I'm done here-" I tensed when I saw the jagged edge of a knife near my throat.

"Get off the bike slowly." One of the ordered as I sighed. In New Domino, cops would have been here in seconds. I put my hands up and slowly got off my bike, "Now, give us your dueling cards."

"Excuse me-"

"No talking! This is a robbery!" One of them shouted as I rolled my eyes; they haven't been expericned in this field.

"If this is a robbery, you would need a better weapon, like this." I said, going into my pouch and grabbing my knife that was slightly bigger, but much more threatening, "This...is a knife. You're lucky that I don't have a damn butcher knife!" I threw it close to one of their feet as they stepped back a bit. The man holding the jagged knife dropped it. I went to get another one and accidentally stabbed myself.

"Ow." I whined, putting my thumb in my mouth.

"Get her!" They yelled and were about to run towards me before they heard a roar of an engine or two, "I-it's Crow! Let's get out of here!" They all nodded and ran.

"Hey, I am not done with you, punks!" I yelled, waving my fist in the air with murderous intent, "Damn bastard... Trying to rob me-"

"Cristina!" A voice shouted as I saw a red runner stopping in front of me, a black and yellow runner not to far behind. I saw Yusei standing up and walking over to me as I frowned. Stage two: finding Yusei; complete! Stage three: explaining how I got here... I looked up at him as he removed his helmet; his azure eyes stern, but focused, "Cristina..."

"You already said my name." I joked, but he didn't seem amused.

"Why are you here, you promised me-"

"I promised not to follow you; obviously, I didn't because you would have caught me faster. I used my noggin and knew you would go to the Satellite. Yusei... you can;t get rid of me that easily." I told him, poking his chest, "Besides, I want to meet your friends. You have no choice, but to bring me or I will... do I even have to finish my sentence?" I saw a little smile on his face before I was met with the warmness of his jacket.

"What am I going to do with you?" He muttered as I chuckled, "You could have gotten yourself hurt."

"That is the price you pay for being with Cristina Witen." I muttered, "I could have taken them on. You are such an idiot, it's hard to believe that your are King."

"Thank you..." I looked up at him and grinned as he smiled

"Yusei? Since when is enigma Yusei Fudo taken by this girl over here." The man behind Yusei said, giving him two thumbs up, "I knew you could do it."

"What is with these guys and spiked up hair?" I muttered under my breath and smiled in content when I felt him kiss my temple; my worries were washed away for now...

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><p>Review and Rate~<p>

Xoxbattleangel


	20. Chapter 20

...I am so sorry for the wait since i am a slacker. here you go!

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><p>Cristina's Pov~<p>

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><p>I followed Yusei and his friend Crow through and underground tunnel. Crow was slightly... intimidating. He had criminal marks on the sides of his face and a "M" on his forehead. He likes the color oragne though. I could tell by the clothes he was wearing.<p>

"So, Cristina, you duel?" I heard Crow asked as I met eyes with him. I smirked and nodded, "Cool, I was hoping you just didn't use that bike for show. What type of deck you have?"

"Pyro. That's all I use. What about you?" I asked as he grinned.

"Blackwing." He said proudly as I nodded; never heard of it.

"So, you and Yusei are like bestfriends?" I asked him as he nodded.

"We go way back, we are pratically brothers. But I'm the oldest one since I kick his ass in dueling." He said in a proud way as Yusei chuckled.

"Keep on telling yourself that." Yusei said as Crow laughed. I slowed my bike down a bit when they started to slow and I saw about three people in this mini... house you could say. I went into a complete halt.

"Yusei, you came back!" A small child said as I gasped quietly... She is the most... adorable child I have ever saw. I wonder if Yusei would let me keep her...?

"Hey there!" Another guy said with glasses and blue hair. I heard more voices saying Yusei's name, but I wasn't so sure where they were. I got off my bike and took off my helmet.

"Did I miss anything?" He asked, being his cool, calm, and collected self. He put his helmet on his bike before giving the small girl a hug.  
>"Hey." She said as I smiled lightly at the hug; I need to know her name, "The craziest thing happened to us last week, Yusei! You wouldn't believe it!"<p>

"Now that I am back here in the Satelitte, I'm going to set things straight." He assured as I slightly raised an eyebrow. Set what things straight...? I heard footsteps and more people coming out. Sheesh, it's like a welcoming party. I blinked in surprise when Crow started to drag me closer; wait, I shouldn't be here anymore! I'm probably going to ruin the mood!

"Blister, thanks for taking care of my friends." Yusei said to Blister with a slight nod.

"No worries, Yusei." Blister replied with a smile, putting his hands on his hips. Crow took off his helmet with a smile.

"So, uh... is it an exclusive club or can anyone join?" Crow asked as people turned their attention towards him. I moved away and walked over to Yusei's side.

"Hey, Crow." They said, all except for Yusei and Blister. I guess he's a regular.

"I didn't recognize you with the helmet and bike." Glasses said as Crow walked over.

"Yeah, Yusei is not the only one with a turbo charged runner in Satelitte anymore, right?" He said with a grin.

"Men..." I muttered as I felt all eyes on me, "Uh...H-hi?"

"Cristina?" Blister asked as I gave him a short wave.

"Guys, this is Cristina. Cristina, this is Blitz..." guy with bandana, "Nervin..." Glasses with blue hair, "Tank..." Big guys with brown spiky hair, "And Rally." The man little girl I am loving every second of...

"She's pretty Yusei." Rally said as I grinned, blush on my cheeks.

"I know." Yusei said with a chuckle. I looked over to him and smiled.

"I love Rally. She's cute!" I whispered to him excitedly as he chuckled at me. I raised an eyebrow.

"Rally's a boy, Cristina, not a girl." He said as I stopped smiling and looked down at Rally's smiling face. I turned around and hit my head against Yusei's shoulder.

"I think I should find a lake and drown in it." I muttered as I felt him pat my head softly.

"Yusei, are you and her in a rela-"

"This is security; ID number 8WX74098; give yourself up!" A man said from the streets above the tunnels.

"That must have been a mouthful..." I muttered and looked over to Crow who was grinning.

"He's not the only with the knack of ticking off sector security either..." Crow said as I smirked.

"You guys are way too similar." I muttered, shaking my head. I looked up and saw a metal looking device being thrown. It popped open smoke started to fill in the place.

"Their trying to smoke us out?" Nervin said as I covered my mouth with my jacket.

"We need to split up." Crow concluded as I nodded, looking up just in case they decide to throw more of those contraptions, "Lets meet at the Deadless Bridge in two hours; that's where my hideout is."

"Right." Everyone said as I went over to my bike and put on my helmet.

"Stay close, Cristina." I heard Yusei said as I smirked.

"I'll try!" I said and followed Yusei's movements. Crow went first to divert attention. I followed after Yusei as he went after Crow and I sighed with a smile. Best friends always have each-other backs...

"Yusei, Cristina, what are you guys doing?" He asked as I looked over to Yusei in explanation.

"Someone has to babysit you, Crow." Yusei said as Crow replied back with a loud laugh. I looked over and saw Purple coming from the flying object coming. I slowed down and heard a siren behind me, hearing a police duel-runner. I raised my eyebrow in annoyance. I want to see them fight and I have to deal with some police.

"You okay, Cristina?" I heard Yusei asked as I nodded.

"Yeah, but I'm going to lose some police. I'll meet up with you two later! Just don't lose!" I told him and turned a sharp left as I heard the noise of the sirens following me. I looked over my shoulder and smirked lightly, revving my runner.

"Halt! You are trespassing!" The police officer said as I laughed loudly and turned another corner, "All right then!" I looked up when I saw something hovering over my head and muttered under my breath.

"I am not really in a mood to fight a turbo duel; I haven't gotten a good meal yet." I whined as the area around me turned a purple shade, though, I liked the color; it was nice. The police guard was right next to me with a grin before he grin slightly faded.

"Hey, you're that girl..." He started as my eyebrow twitched; don't you dare say it... "Yeah, you're the one who lost to Yusei Fudo! I betted a lot of money on you!"

"Great, I am dealing with an ass..." I muttered under my breath, gripping the handles tightly, "You are dead before you even start!"

"We will see about that. I draw first!" He said, drawing a few cards as I rolled my eyes; I guess all police jerks are not chivalrous.

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><p>-End Duel- (Still hate writing those)<p>

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><p>"Ancient Flamvell Deity, burn his Blast Juggler to ash!" I yelled, as Flamvell Deity roared, attacking the officer's poor Blast Juggler. I cheered and sped past him as his life points went to zero, "Be thankful I didn't attack you with Uria, then I would have really caused some damage!" I turned a sharp left and was heading towards the streets. I blinked and slowed down when I saw the screen of my duel-runner flashing. I pressed the middle button and raised an eyebrow at Yusei's face.<p>

"Hey, did you win?" He asked as I rolled my eyes.

"Was there any doubt about it, besides, he had it coming to him." I told him as Yusei raised an eyebrow, "He recognized me as the girl who lost to Yusei Fudo... God, I should have ripped his bike apart." At this point, Yusei chuckled a bit and nodded towards me. "I already know you and Crow won since you would not be talking to me. Where should we meet up?"

"Well, since you have a bad sense of direction, we will catch up to you." He teased as I smirked and gave him a teasing glare.

"I do not have a bad sense of direction."

"That's not what Leo and Luna told me... with the whole 'mall incident?'" He questioned as I glared and crossed my arms, slowing down a bit.

"You're a dead man when you come here, Yusei." I threatened as he gave me a small smile.

"You are too adorable, Cristina."

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><p>"That was a long trip." I muttered under my breath as Crow chuckled loudly; I have to get use to that.<p>

"I see you are more of a city girl." Crow said as I shrugged.

"Eh, city girl with a bad-ass attitude, but yeah." I said with a slight smirk. I saw Rally waving at us and I couldn't help, but wave back, "Yusei, you sure I can't have him? He's is too adorab-"

"Contain your excitement, Cristina, you might scare him off." Yusei joked as I bit my lip. I staretd to see more children as I gasped. I reached over and tugged on Yusei's arm, pointing to the other children, "What am I going to do with you...?" As we slowed down, the kids gathered around Crow like I devour a chocolate cake... god, I could for one right now. I whimpered slightly and held my stomach. The kids were screaming out for more guards as I grinned and leaned back.

"What are you talking about? You kids want more of my cards? Look at me, do you see a beard and red hat? I'm not Santa Clause!" Crow said as I looked over to Yusei.

"I think he can pull it off." I mused as Yusei rolled his eyes, "Oh, come on. You do have to agree there!"

"Come on, please?" They asked and got even louder and my grin got wider. Crow is like a Daddy with... 12 kids... that's... yeah, that's a weird way picturing it.

"Hold on, hold on. Well, I don't have cards, but I brought something else even better! May I present to you, Yusei. The new turbo duel champion!" Crow announced as the kids stared in awe. I chuckled and took off my helmet, getting off my bike.

"I want an autograph!" A kid yelled out as Yusei raised an eyebrow, "I saw your duel; I watched it ten times!" 10 times...? That's a bit excessive.

"Aw, man. I can't believe this is happening!" A child yelled out, running towards Yusei with a laugh and more started to pile around him. I put my helmet on the bike and lightly punched Yusei's shoulder.

"I guess you are even popular here!" I said with a short chuckle until I felt someone tugging on my coat. It was a small kid who looked up at me in curious.

"Hey little guy, what can I help you with?" I asked softly, crouching down to his level with a smile on my face.

"You versed the Turbo dueling champion and lost before he versed Jack!" He said with a large smile, "You were awesome out there with those fire cards!" A part of me wanted to go in the corner and let depression slip over me, but I still wanted to hug him to death... I decided to let out a sigh and give the kid a grin.

"You're sweet, you know that. I think I rather go out with you than you, Yusei." I said to Yusei as he raised an amused smirk, "I am still not forgiving you."

"I already know that from the start..." He replied with a wink as I grinned a blushed a bit. I ruffled the little kid's hair as his cheeks were pink. I stood up and walked over to Rally and the others.

"So, any idea where these kids came from?" I questioned, crossing my arms.

"Look at them; it's like they never seen a duelist before." Rally said as I smirked a bit, "I mean, it's just Yusei; come on."

"I think someone is jealous." I whispered to Rally who was quick to protest.

"I-I'm not; I am just not sure why they are acting like that!" He said quickly as I nodded and stared back at Yusei, "I'm not!"

"Whatever you say, Rally." I said, hiding my smile.

"You know, if I could get an autograph, then..." Tank started to chuckle and rubbed his hands the way you rub lotion on your skin; it was disturbing, "I'll sell it online and get rich!" I raised an eyebrow at Tank and slapped the back of his head pretty hard as he yelped and fell to the floor.

"How about I sell you to a dog owner; I am pretty sure their dogs need a chew toy." I asked as he whimpered and shook his head, "Good..."

* * *

><p>"So, what you are telling us is that these dark signers want to destroy the satellite sector?" Nervin asked as I nodded and leaned back, propping myself up with my arms.<p>

"That's right, Nervin." Yusei answered, "Cristina and I saw a vision when I was dueling Jack in the tournament."

"If it's true, what do we do?" Blitz asked as I looked over to Yusei for what he was going to say. As a matter of fact, Yusei is usually the one who takes in charge. Huh... I really don't like to take in charge. You always need a game plan. I sometimes act on impulse.

"Well, we can go home, pack up, and use that pipeline to get out of here." Tank said as I was about to reach over and slap the back of his head, but... he was kind of right, kind of...

"I agree; if these dark signers are here; we should go over there. I'm good with a deck, but once the shuffling part is done, it's all down hill." Nervin said and I frowned a bit. Even if we did bring them through the pipeline; the police would be on our tail in no time.

"I know you are scared Nervin, and so am I..." Yusei admitted as I looked over in shocked; Yusei being nervous; I didn't think anything could affect that man. "But this mark has made me apart of this war and if I don't fight back against the dark signers then there is no hope for anyone."

"You know, I'm with you. A crow never back away from a fight and I have to protect my nest, but they hurt your bike, just say the word pal and they are gone! Seriously, I mean it!" Crow said with a grin as I sweardropped but glared at him.

"Hey, what about my bike?" I questioned as he smirked.

"You're bike isn't part of my insurance best-friend plan. 100 bucks an hour plus tax." He said with a grin as I picked up a pebble and threw it at his face, "Ow!"

"You're bike is not part of my insurance pan either; expect it to be in the ocean tomorrow morning." I said with a grin as his smile faltered and looked over to Yusei.

"Is she serious?" He asked as Yusei smirked.

"She's capable of a lot of things." Yusei said as I nodded and grinned.

"That's not true!" A little girl said, wrapping her arms around Crow, "You'll always protect us!"

"Can you tell us a goodnight story, Crow?"

"How about a scary one?"

"But you are always afraid of the dark and you always run off before he gets to finish!" The girl replied and I fell in love with her.

"She reminds me of... me." I told Yusei as he just patted my head.

"How about I tell about the bridge to nowhere?" Crow asked as I snickered a bit, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, mother-goose." I taunted as his cheeks went red, "Taking care of these children; you are the very essence of it!"

"Tell it, tell it!" The girl said before Crow had a chance to reply. I sighed and laid down flat, looking at the stars as Crow told his story. I heard some shuffling and looked over, seeing Yusei lying next to me.

"Not interested in bedtime stories?" He asked as I chuckled.

"No, I rather listen to those suspenseful types; the ones that make you think twice about stuff." I told him and faced him, "So... you are calling this a war?"

"I see no other type of conflict it is; we just have to stop it." He said as I nodded.

"You know, getting Akiza and Jack to join this mission won't be easy, and finding the last signer won't be any easier than that." I said as he nodded and sighed.

"But once they know what is at risk, they will no matter what. Besides, I think Jack already know, though, he would like to lead; he always like to do that." He said with a slight chuckle as I smiled, "You're willing to stay by my side or do I have to make some persuade you with ice cream?"

"Yusei Fudo." I started with a scoff, "Was that question really needed to be asked or you just wanted an excuse to see my angry?" I looked up at him and amusement just filled his eyes. I couldn't help, but chuckle lightly. I reached over and stroked his hair, smiling at him.

"We will get through this; I'll kick everyone's ass if I have too." I said as he grabbed my hand and kissed it, "What do you say to that, Yusei Fudo?"

"I say I have an amazing girlfriend."

"Bet your ass you do..."

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><p>The only story out of my top three where the oc is in a relationship *_*<p>

Review and Rate Please~

Xoxbattleangel~


	21. Chapter Special

All right; it's been a while and I was slacking. Well, here's a special which has NOTHING to do with the plot.

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><p>Cristina's Pov~<p>

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><p>I winced when I heard my alarm blaring and peeked through my covers, frowning a bit. Bright red numbers were showing mw that it was six in the morning. I don't care if it's six in the morning, those damn brats can make breakfast by themselves! I moved my hand up and slapped the alarm clock lightly before turning to my side again, a smile going across my face as the silence settled in once again. This is beautiful-<p>

"Crissy, open up!" Someone yelled outside my door as I went wide-eyes and glared, "I know you are still trying to sleep!" That kid is dead. I moved my covers and stood up, stalking towards the door with steam coming out of my ears. I snapped the door open and glared at the man-devil; Leo. He smiled brightly at me as Luna waved at me. I would wave back, but I still couldn't get Leo's voice out of my head

"Cristina, you look tired!" Leo yelled as I sighed loudly and bit my lip. He cannot be serious

"No, I just like to put make-up on when I go to slee- Of course I am tired!" I shouted and lunged at him, putting him into a head-lock, "Did you know I had to work until 12 at night at my job? You should because I told you that when you should have been to sleep!"

"Your breath stinks! Get off of me, Pyro-lady!" He whined as I glared at him, pulling at his cheeks, "Ow, ow, ow! Luna, can't you help a twin?"

"I rather stay on her good side. You look very nice, Cristina." Luna said with a smirk as I looked over to her. I let go of Leo and sighed. I sat on the floor and leaned back, rubbing my eyes with one arm. These guys are too much.

"I love you guys." I said as they both smiled.

"Hey, I don't get any love?" A voice said from my door in a teasing tone. I looked up and went wide-eyes, "Hey-"

"Yusei, you just don't come in like you own my apartment!" I said, scrambling up to my feet and walked over to him. He had blinked his azure eyes in confusion before trying to speak, but I had cut him off, "H-how did you manage to even come in here?"

"Your door was unlocked from the time Luna and Leo opened it. They invited me over, saying you make the best breakfast on Saturdays." He said as I rolled my eyes, "And seeing you is a plus."

"Charmer." I muttered and kissed his cheek, "But… I am glad to see you too, but guys… it is 6 in the morning. That is the time where people are still sleeping, especially Saturdays. I cherish my Saturdays as if they were my life. I get to spend my time in bed, maybe tidy up the place, try new recipes, and watch cartoons in the morning-"

"Blah, blah, blah. Anyways, can you make us breakfast?" Leo asked as Luna nodded. I deadpanned and looked over to Yusei. He just smirked and crossed his arms.

"I am dealing with greedy pigs." I muttered under my breath before walking into the kitchen, "Fine…"

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><p>"More strawberries!" Leo demanded as I glared at him, "Please?" I blew a raspberry at him and handed him a dish of strawberries. He cheered with a fork and knife in hand, and poured all of the strawberries onto his plate of pancakes. Luna giggled slightly and ate her blueberry pancakes. I scoffed and reached over to grab the can of whip-cream.<p>

"I shouldn't even be feeding this to you guys. You will have so much energy in the day. I should have never influence you. Let the King of Duel Runners influence you!" I looked over to Yusei with a bright smile as I said that before a thin line replaced my lips. Yusei looked up his plate that had banana slices, blueberries, chocolate chips, strawberries, syrup, and a whole lot of whip-cream. There was a smudge of chocolate on his face as he looked at us.

"Did I do something?" He questioned as I rolled my eyes and licked my thumb.

"You are supporting child obesity." I said and wiped my thumb on his cheek, removing the chocolate, "Such a bad influence." I heard Leo gag in the background and smirked at him.

"From the girl who carries knife." He said as I pouted and crossed my arms. "You can never be too careful in these streets." I replied and licked some chocolate syrup from the plate.

"And you call me a pig!" Leo shouted as I looked at him.

"Hey! I was the one who had to cook those damn pancakes; any argument you make about me is invalid." I said and stretch my arms over my head, "So, since breakfast is almost done. Can I go back to my bed?"

"Nope." Luna said as I gave her a shock look, "You promised me and Leo to go to the arcade. You made that promise two months ago…"

"I don't remember." I grumbled under my breath and crossed my arms, "Don't you love your babysitter and don't want her to work. You want her to relax, right?"

"No!" Leo cheered as I groaned and looked at Yusei.

"Yusei, they will be the death of me." I whispered as he chuckled. "Don't worry, they asked me too." He replied as I couldn't help, but chuckle. They even got him involved. I stood up and started to grab everyone's plate, hearing Leo and Luna talk as I yawned. I walked over to the sink and got out a sponge. I heard footsteps and looked at Yusei.

"You need help?" He asked as I gave him a tired smile and nodded, "All right, I guess I'll dry the plates."

"More work than Leo has ever done." I said as he smirked a bit. I turned the faucet on and watched as smudges of syrup and other such things were washed away from the plates. I soaped up the sponge and started to clean, "How is everyone?"

"Oh, you know; same old. Crow is actually around, finding people to battle. Yanagi is with Tanner and I really heard a lot from Blister, but I am sure he is all right." He explained as I nodded and handed him a plate, "What about you and them?"

"Oh, it is a blast." I said in a sarcastic voice as he chuckled, "But to be honest, it's not bad. Their tutors are really annoying, but I handled them, and you wanna know how?"

"…Should I be asking?" He retorted as I ignored him and went into the knife handler, "Did you ki-?"

"Look what I got!" I singed and grinned as he raised an eyebrow, "I actually got a butcher knife! It has my name! A gift from a friend from my job, but isn't it pretty?"

"I am a little concerned about your insanity sometimes." He said as I scoffed and put it back, "Why did they give you knife?"

"Why give a dueling disk to a duelist?" I replied as he sighed.

"Different things-"

"But same scenario… I think. I am a pastry chef. I do need a knife to make a lot of pastries." I said and shrugged, "It's not like I am serious about…using it. I am an aggressive person, but I am no killer."

"You killed that slug on the sidewalk outside-"

"It was a chemistry experiment!" I replied, hitting the water with my fist as it splashed everywhere, "I do not regret it!"

"Bug killer!" Leo and Luna called out as I smirked and turned around.

"Don't call me next time there's a spider in your room, like that one I saw yesterday on the wall at your apartment. I was going to kill it, but I was too busy making your lunch and fixing your beds; it suddenly disappeared... I guess we will never know." I replied with a loud laugh and continued to clean, ignoring Yusei's smirk and the twins' pleads.

* * *

><p>"Meet up here in two hours." I said, and I was more than sure that two hours was enough. The arcade place was fairly large, "Don't forget, you got my phone and it has Yusei's number." They didn't bother to say goodbye as they ran in. I smiled and ran up to Yusei, grabbing his hand. He looked down with an amused smile.<p>

"So, tall, tan, and handsome, what should we do for two hours- look!" I told him, looking at a shop window as I pressed my face against it, "Do you know what that is?"

"A turbo charger for duel runners; It balances speed and stabilization for them. Doesn't your runner all ready have one?" He asked as I nodded and backed away.

"Yeah, but I might need to replace it soon; I used it too many times." I said as he nodded and grimaced a bit, "What is it?"

"I am not so sure if you are willing to the buy it with the price." He said as I looked back and gasped, "Maybe we can find one at another-"

"No way!" I said and walked into the store, looking around the room and then looked at the clerk, "Hey! How much for that turbo charger?"

"What does the price say?" He replied as I glared, "It ain't going down anytime soon!"

"There are plenty of other stores I could go to." I threatened as he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Then you don't have to tell me." He replied with a small grin, "Leave, sweetheart."

"Don't be like that! I need that for my duel runner!" I whined as he blinked.

"You're a turbo duelist?" He asked as I smiled and nodded quickly, "Too bad! No money, no turbo charger!"

"Listen, buddy! I will kick your scrawny, pale-" I was pulled away by a brown glove and looked up at Yusei.

"We can go find it at another place." He assured me as I sighed.

"Wait, you're the one who defeated Jack Atlas!" The clerk said as I slapped my forehead, "You're a legend."

"I'm no legend, besides, the title isn't what matters." Yusei said with pride and started to walk out.

"I'll drop the price for you." The clerk said as I stopped Yusei and turned around, "I will drop 50 y-"

"I hope you step on something sharp." I said and pushed Yusei out of the store, my arms crossed, "I should have gone back there and kick the back of his head."

"Don't worry about it, Cristina. It is not the end of the world." Yusei said as I smiled a bit, "Let's just have fun. We can worry about the turbo charger later."

"I will get my revenge on that man." I said as Yusei brought me closer and tapped my head, "Stop that."

"Stop thinking about it and let's explore. There might be cotton candy here." He said as I pouted, "What color? You know you can't seduce me with food!"

"One has all the colors." He replied as I shut my eyes tight and pouted, "We can find a vendor-"

"Fine, fine! You win this time." I said and pulled him along, "I'm not sharing with you."

* * *

><p>"…You sure you don't want any?" I asked, swaying the cotton candy in his face as he smiled slightly.<p>

"It's fine. Remember what you said." He said as I rolled my eyes.

"Yusei, I was joking, now, eat some. My man has to try this." I said, poking his cheek with it as he sighed.

"Will you stop poking me?" He questioned as I slowly nodded. He took the cotton candy out of my hands and stared at it a bit strangely, "I thought you didn't support child obesity."

"I don't, but I don't see Leo or Luna anywhere." I said as he smirked. He had taken a bite from the side, chewing it slowly, "So, Yusei Fudo?"

" It's actually good; I wasn't expecting that." He said and I smiled brightly, "Why is that every time we go out, you make me eat something?"

"Hey, I don't want to be the only one who's pigging out." I told him and intertwined my legs with Yusei as we sat behind a tree, looking at the citizens passing by, "I wish I had gotten a smaller size."

"I thought you could handle anything." He teased as I laughed and pushed his shoulder.

"Not everything. I am no Superman." I told him and cleared my throat, "But I am sure that I would look good in tights."

"Of course…" Yusei said as I giggled a bit. I grabbed a little of the cotton candy, licked a little piece and stuck on his cheek, "May I ask what you are doing?"

"You can, but I am not answering." I said and kissed his cheek, the cotton candy melting in my mouth and laughed at his slightly red face, "You should have known that was going to happen."

"I didn't expect my girlfriend to be weird." He said as I smiled. I leaned in gave him a quick kiss. He had grabbed the side of my face and deepened it. I giggled a bit and wrapped my arms around him. I pushed him forward as he landed on his back on the grass. I felt his hands drift down to my waist, tightening around that area. I lifted my away from him for air and laughed a bit,"That was… amazing."

I slapped his chest lightly and smiled, "I hate that feeling you make me feel. My chest pumping a bit too hard, tingling sensation in my stomach-"

"You're corny-"

"Am not!" I replied and went down to kiss him again, "You are obsessed with me."

"Well. I am a weak, weak man." He replied with a loud sigh as I laugh, "I can't deny, but I am." I smiled softly at him as he smiled back.

"Duel tournament!" Someone shouted as I blinked and looked up. I sat up and looked around. There was a guy with a mega-phone who was shouting and a crowd was around him.

"Please tell you heard that." I said to Yusei as he nodded and sat up.

"I heard it too. I wonder what is going on…" He questioned and looked down at the ground, "I guess no more cotton candy."

"What?" I asked and saw the cotton candy on the ground, "Maybe I could salvage it?" He shook his head and stood up, helping me stand up. We walked closer to the man with the mega-phone.

"…Dueling for turbo charger!" He called out as I raised an eyebrow, "I repeat; this is a short tournament duel here and now. An elimination tournament for the turbo-charger. Once you lose, you are out of this race! Only 16 and up are allowed! Signups are here; only a 5 dollar fee entry!" I looked over and saw kids all ready walking away, but I am not surprised. Most of them don't even have their license to ride a duel runner. People had all ready scramble to the clipboard and were prepared, cheering loudly and eagerly giving the money.

"You want to get involved?" I questioned to Yusei as he shook his head.

"No, I will be here to support you." He said as I smiled and nodded. I walked up when no one was left and started to write my name down and handed the man the exact money.

"You turbo duel?" One guy questioned as I snorted.

"Why else would I be here?" I replied and thanked the person who had passed out duel disks. There were going to be two games going at the same time. I watched on and backed up when people started to get rowdy, "There are a lot of serious fighters."

"Because they think they are the best, girlie!" Someone shouted as I sighed. I looked over to Yusei who gave me thumbs up. I smiled slightly and waved. I just got to wait for my turn and teach them who is champ. around here.

* * *

><p>"Oh, yeah!" I cheered, defeating my last guy and jumped up and down at the cheers. Those fighters didn't compare to the ones in the real tournament. I wouldn't mind fighting Zeke again, I wonder how he was doing…<p>

"Here you go, young lady." The man with the mega-phone said and handed me the small, but very expensive chip in my hand as I smiled and stared at it. I felt a shadow over my shoulder and saw Yusei, an eyebrow quirked. He quickly grabbed the chip from my hand and inspected it. I raised an eyebrow and hoped he would give it back to me.

"This is a fake." He said as I went wide-eyes, "There's no way a turbo charger could have all of these components in such a small chip; it would mess up the duel runner."

"It's real, don't listen to him." The mega-phone guy said as I walked up and glared at him, "It's real-"

"Stop using the mega-phone!" I replied, slapping the large object out of his hands as it crashed to the ground, "For your sake, you better tell the truth!"

"I-You… A guy has to make a living right?" He asked with a nervous chuckle as grabbed onto his collar and went into his pocket, "H-hey! Personal space!" I grabbed the money and tossed it into the air, smirking.

"Don't toy with people like that. I, especially… I don't like being tricked." I said and dropped his collar, walking away and went in front of Yusei and grabbed the chip. I threw it on the ground and stepped on it repeatedly and walked away, dragging Yusei along as I didn't look back.

* * *

><p>"How'd you know it was a fake?" I asked, yet another cotton candy in my hand, but there were two.<p>

"I'm a mechanic. It was a good forgery, but it wasn't good enough to fool me, besides. A type of equipment like that; there's no way someone would just give it up." He said as I nodded.

"So, why didn't you stop me?" I asked as he shrugged.

"You seemed a little stress and dueling is one of the best way to relieve your tension." He said as I smiled and leaned against him.

"You are too smart." I said as he chuckled. I went up to kiss him again as he held me close.

"Ew, your guys are kissing!" Leo complained, shutting his eyes with one of his arms, "It's too gross. Worse than cooties!"

"Ha-ha! I regret getting you this then." I said, waving one of the cotton candies in his face as he quickly grabbed it.

"You're the best you know that?" He said as I rolled my eyes and ruffled his hair.

"I know." I gave the other one to Luna who said thank you. I leaned back against a railing and looked at the twins, "Did you guys have fun?"

"Yeah, I won most of the games against Leo." Luna said in a smug tone as I grinned.

"She cheated!"

"Did not!"

"Did too-"

"Hey, no more yelling!" I said, rubbing my temples and sighed.

"What did you guys do?" Luna asked us. I looked at Yusei as he looked at me.

"Nothing much." We both said with a small smile.

"Liar, you probably kissed!"

"Guilty." I said, putting my hands up as he gagged again, "Like I said before, you will get a girlfriend!"

"Blah, blah, blah." Leo mocked before taking a bite out of his cotton candy, "Hey, can I have the 5 dollars back?"

"What five dollars?" I questioned softly as Leo rolled his eyes.

"The money to get the action figure of Jack; I was going to get it after the arcade. Don't you remember?" He asked… Leo you dumb idiot! I was in the shower during that time; I didn't hear what you said; I thought the money was for me and I thought you were being nice.

"I… accidently used it to try to win a turbo charger." I said in a guilty tone as he was about to protest.

"Well, did you win?" Leo asked as I nodded, "Cool! Where is it?"

"Well, thing is that it was a fake… I took care of the guy, but um… I forgot to get the money-"

"You don't have my money?" Leo asked in shocked as I gave him a sad smile, "I thought you worked!"

"Hey, I do work! It doesn't mean that I am going to use up all my money; it goes into my bank account!" I told him as he pouted and turned away from Leo. "Leo, I am sorry. Is there anyway-"

"There is a way you can repay me… buying me _two_ action figures tomorrow." He said as I rolled my eye and crossed my arms.

"I refuse to put my hands on a… self-centered object." I said and turned away.

"Mean babysitter!" Leo shouted as I glared at him and grabbed a hold of him, giving him a noogie, "Meanie head!"

"Be quiet!" I replied with a snarl and twisted his ears. Yusei and Luna could only sweatdrop in the background.

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><p>Here you go; it's a bit off topic, but I was bored. Um, I hope you can forgive me for my lateness; I am lazy as usual~<p>

Review and Rate Please~

Xoxbattleangel~


	22. Chapter 21

Cristina's Pov~

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><p>I turned around on my small roll-up bed that Crow had given to me. It wasn't the best of beds, but damn, I could sleep on anything from the events that had just happened. I flickered my eyes opened and looked around the small camp area. I twisted around on the small bed to look at the group around me. I saw Tank and the others sleeping soundly and Tank snoring as loud as he could. I sighed and blinked my eyes lazily at Tank. There should be no reason on why he's snoring loudly like that, he might as well be a siren for the cops. I sat up and looked at Yusei's bed as I narrowed my eyes at he said before all of us said...<p>

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><p><em>"...It's a joke, if anyone wants to reconnect the Satellite, it is going to take more than dreams." I heard Blister said as I opened my eyes slightly. I was suppose to be sleeping, but I was just a bit curious on what they are talking about. What Blitz had said made everyone deathly quiet as the truth sinked in. They wanted to help out the Satellite, but how would they?<em>

_"Maybe so..." Yusei started, "But it doesn't mean I can't try... It's late, we should get to bed too..." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I know that underlying tone of his. Damn, Yusei. We just escaped from the Police and now you have another plan up your sleeve... What is it this time? I shook my head and closed my eyes._

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><p>I crawled near his bed and felt that it was still warm so he didn't leave that soon ago. I have to be careful so that I don't wake up the others. I looked over and saw Crow out of sight. Where did he go? I crept back to my bed and grabbed my boots. I slipped them on and put on my jacket before standing up. I yawned a bit and walked to where my duel runner is and I froze and cursed under my breath.<p>

"They all ready left..." I mumbled under my breath and walked a bit faster to my duel runner, "Doesn't mean I can't catch up to them." I looked back at the camp site with a raised eyebrow.

"Where's my helmet?" I asked myself and walked around my vehicle, "I swear, I left it on my ride." I blinked in confusion when I saw a little note on the seat. I picked it up carefully and unfolded it.

_'I know you might kill me later, but I had a feeling that you would come after me and I don't want to see you get hurt. That last time you followed me, you almost got hurt when I saw dueling that guy in the cloak. I took your helmet so you wouldn't come after me. Just wait until I get back.  
>-Y' <em>

I tilted my head at the note and smiled before ripping it into pieces, a new determination that filled me.

"Yusei, you are so dead." I growled under my breath before walking back and forth, "I'm going to carve you up so bad that-"

"Cristina, thank god you are here!" I heard someone yell. I looked over my shoulder and saw Blitz running over to me, "Where are Yusei and Crow, I don't see them anywhere."

"I don't know, but I am sure they are off to battle Dark Signers." I said, biting the tip of my thumb, "I would go search this area, but I don't have my helmet... I could go without it, but-"

"Safety is better." Blitz said as I nodded. We headed back to the group and I saw that everyone is awake, "Rally woke up everyone."

"I can see that." I said and looked around.

"What happens if the Dark Signers got 'em...?" Tank asked, a look of fear on his face, "That's it! I will go after them! Cristina, let me use your bike-"

"You touch my bike, I'll rip those furry caterpillars off your face." I threatened as he backed up.

"Do you think...?" Rally trailed off as Nervin shrugged.

"I don't know." Nervin replied, "Blister, you stay here in case they come back as we go looking for them, okay?" Blister did not protest as he saluted to Nervin; that lazy bastard.

"If we are going to look for them, we should split up." I said, looking at each of them. "We can cover more ground that way."

"Right!" Everyone said and split up. Rally started to run, but stopped once he saw where I saw going.

"What's up, Cristina?" Rally asked as I started to go towards my Duel Runner, "W-wait, you don't have a helmet!"

"I am willing to take that risk." I said, feeling a bit nervous. I never really went on my bike without a helmet, "Besides, I can scan the area quickly with my bike; it will be a piece of cake." I tied my hair up in a tight ponytail and look at him. "You stay safe, all right?" I warned as he nodded. I smiled and kissed his forehead. I revved my engine loudly before driving off to any direction that seemed likely to where they were headed off. I made sure I was careful on the turns, but went fast enough to actually cover some ground.

"Yusei Fudo, why couldn't you do this after the sun came up, or even after we eat?" I complained to no one as my stomach growled, "Great..." So far, after 5 minutes, there was still no sign of the trouble duo. I gasped as my arm had started to glow red and it is because of Yusei's mark. Is Yusei dueling all ready against a Dark Signer? He does not waste anytime. I thought it was the same guy, but it's telling me that it was someone else. And by 'it', I meant my mark, which was pretty strange. I wonder if the other Signers have the same feeling as me. I slowed my bike down and looked up at the sky. How am I going to track him down...? I arched my head to looked up and saw some sort of purple tint in the sky.

"That is not normal at all..." I stated, "And when something is not normal, Yusei is bound to be there!" I turned my runner around and followed the path of the purplish tint in the sky. As I got closer, more purple had started to come out of the sky. I slowed down and saw that I was at some abandon wasteland-type of area; there was a lot of wreckage. I saw that there was a straight clear path for me as I sped up my runner, squinting my eyes. Not only do I not have my helmet, but the fog is not helping; Might as well make me blind. I looked up still and saw that the purplish light had faded away.

"Wha-?" I said as my jaw went slack for a bit. Where is it now? "Damn it! Why can't everything just work out for me?" I looked down again and gasped when I saw a wall of purplish flames. I skidded to a halt as it cornered me off by turning to the right. I wasn't about to be left out! I turned my runner to the right and revved my engine, going faster than the flames. I turned a sharp left as my bike almost felt and my head hitting the pavement. I popped a wheelie as my heart was pounding way too hard. That was too much of a close call. I slowed down as I saw the two people I was looking for and I felt my annoyance return. Those idiots. I slowed down as I felt the stares on me.

"Cristina!" Yusei and Crow shouted in shock as I put my kickstand down carefully and glared at the two. I noticed someone else who had a creepy grin.

"Before I kick both your asses, whose the creep?" I said.

"It's Kalin." Yusei said as I crossed my arms... Kalin... I remember that name before... Shit, but from where- Oh yeah. The guy who went to jail; Yusei told me that story a long time ago... "He's a Dark Signer."

"No shit." I snapped as he looked over at me, wondering I saw on the edge, "You freaked out everybody at the campsite except for Blister, he just didn't care about jack squat."

"Another Signer? This must be my lucky day. Once I finish off Yusei, I'll battle you too; you will be begging for a quick defeat." Kalin said as I narrowed my eyes.

"Buddy, once you duel me, you will regret trying to threaten me; you are asking for a death wish." I retorted as he cackled.

"That quick mouth of yours will lead to your demise, weak girl-"

"Weak?" I demanded, getting off my bike, "I will stab holes through your fat hea-"

"Calm down, Cristina." Crow said, pulling me back from the flames as I took a deep breath, "Don't provoke him-"

"He's provoking me..." I whispered harshly and sighed, "Fine, I will clam down, but I am still going to kick his butt."

"I think Yusei has that handled all ready." Crow said as I smiled.

"Since the peanut gallery are done talking, let's get on with this battle!" Kalin said as I glared at him and crossed my arms, I am no peanut. I am more like a Hazelnut. "Get ready for the duel of your life!" He laughed loudly and I am positive that I just lost my hearing.

"You're about to go down. I will pummel you to the shadowy depths of the netherworld." Kalin said and it looked like his grin got wider if possible.

"It looks like the Dark Signers got to you." Yusei said and he almost sounded sad, but he kept his poker face.

"No, I am not some kind of puppet." Kalin said, showing off his glowing mark, "I am one of the guys that is holding the strings. This right here is the real deal. Not the mark on that drone you dueled back in Domino city. He was just a pawn in our... _little_ game. We caught him and others like him." Wait, there are more of them? It shouldn't be a surprise, but I was hoping that he was the only one. I was starting to think that Kalin is secretly a nice guy or just a stupid villain for telling us this information.

"We caught him in our web, sort of speak." Kalin added as I rolled my eyes. That was a terrible pun.

"So you're a Dark Signer..." Yusei said as I looked at him worried. I knew he is good at catching on quickly with information, but maybe he is just trying to cope that one of his friend is a Dark Signer. I looked over to Crow who gave me a soft nudge and motioned me to follow him. "This is what Goodwin was talking about."

I went back on my bike and followed after Crow who was scanning the perimeter. I slowed down when we had hit a dead end.

"Oh man. What is that thing?" Crow asked as I shook my head.

"It is a barrier of some kind and it won't go away until Yusei beats Kalin. There's no way to get in or out." I told Crow as he nodded.

"Though, I might need a better look at it. I'll be right back." He said as he drove up a hill. I sighed and crossed my arms. I looked up once I heard blades spinning and I assumed it was a helicopter; I was right about that. It flew down way too low as I saw Jack- Jack! What is he doing-... Never mind. I groaned and took a deep breath. I am sure all of this will make sense in time I hope... I saw the helicopter going lower as I got alarmed; are they trying to kill themselves? I breathed a sigh of relief when they had pulled up at the last minute. I drove near where Yusei and Kalin were and saw Yusei looking up in shock, and I felt out of place...  
>Jack knows Yusei, Yusei knows Crow, Crow knows Kalin, and if I am guessing right, Kalin knows everyone. Is this the Enforcers group that Yusei was talking about?<p>

"Was that Jack Atlas?" Kalin asked before laughing, "This is great. We have Jack and Crow here and we will be back together again...! It's good to see you, Yusei."

"Kalin... what happened to you?" Yusei asked.

"You surprised? I bet you never thought you would see me again. And to think, we use to be so close." Kalin mocked as I shook my head; he lost it... "In case if you were wondering, even after all these years... No, Yusei, I still haven't forgiven you after you betrayed our friendship." I am slightly confused. How did Yusei betray their friendship? I heard Kalin took a wrong turn that didn't go with the group and ended up in jail.

"Kalin, you betrayed us when you took things too far." Yusei said, reasoning with Kalin.

"I didn't take things too far." Kalin snapped with a frown, "Because of you and your weakness." This seems a bit too much of what I was hoping for...

"But I had no choice." Yusei said as I looked at Kalin. I looked up and saw Jack with a shock face. I looked over my shoulder and Crow with the same face...I definitely have to ask Yusei after this match on what the hell happened.

"We had fun back in the day, didn't we?" Kalin asked just like he went through a phase of nostalgia, "Didn't we, Crow? And Jack, didn't we have fun? But now, that's all going to end. You should have never betrayed me, Yusei."

"You had to be stopped, Kalin." Yusei said, holding his resolve together.

"I was trying to make Satellite a better place." Kalin replied, "Did you really think Sector security had our best interest in mind?"

"Well, no, but-"

"They needed to fall like the duel gangs. Satellite needed to be our, and ours alone." Kalin said, before glaring at Yusei, "But the past is ancient history. Let's start talking about your future... I'm going to send you to the Netherworld!" I looked and saw Kalin burning out before passing Yusei with such speed and turned around.

"Come on, let's duel!" Kalin shouted and drove his duel runner.

"Kalin, what happened to you?" Yusei asked as I waited for an answer, "How did you become a Dark Signer?"  
>Kalin did nothing, but laugh.<p>

"Are you scared, Yusei?" Kalin mocked as I sighed; nothing is going to get to him.

"Yusei!" I called out as he turned his head towards me, "Be careful there! He may be your friend, or use to be, but you can't lose. Satellite needs a hero... that and I need to kick your butt for taking my helmet, so you better win."

He looked at me before smirking, revving his engine as Kalin went past him.

"I'll give it back to you, I promise." Yusei assured before speeding to catch up to Kalin. I smiled and took a deep breath.

* * *

><p>So don't kill me! I am absolutely sorry for the sudden hiatus with the story, but I assure you that I will continue it for the rest of the first season of the series. That or I make my Oc die 'accidentally' but don't fret about it! I would love to hear your thoughts and concerns~<p>

Review and Rate Please~

Xoxbattleangel~


	23. Chapter 22

Leads right after the previous chapter, just like the regular plotline. Sorry for the LONG ASS WAIT

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><p>Cristina's Pov~<p>

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><p>I tried not to look worry, but it wasn't really working for me at the moment. Once someone close to you is in a life or death situation, you can't help but feel worried. Screw that, you have to be worried.<p>

"Yusei is a good duelist." I told myself with a frown, "He can kick Kalin's ass." I really needed to hold onto that belief.

"Cristina, you can look at the duel, step-by-step, through your duel runner's monitor." Crow shouted to me as I snapped out of my thoughts. I looked over to him as he was staring intently at his monitor that had shined a glow onto his face. I looked down at my duel runner and pressed one button on the monitor that suddenly turned on. I blinked in surprise and smiled at bit, slouching on my bike as I stared at the format of the duel.

"Hopefully, this can calm you a little bit." Crow added on as I rolled my eyes and smirked a bit, "I am not sure if I can deal with an protective and angry Cristina."

"You lasted this long enough, I am sure you can last for a few more hours." I replied and crossed my arms across the handle bars. I let out a sigh and lifted my right hand, gently nibbling on the tip of my finger, my feet making a repeating rhythm against the floor as I waited for the first move to be set. I wish I could follow them along the path of the track that they were on, but, I realize that the path is a winding one with a lot of turns, meaning there would be parts where I couldn't see them.

I looked up to the sky as Kalin activated his monster's, Infernity Archfiend, special power that would attack Yusei directly. I watched as a purple symbol was probably placed around the area of Yusei. I squeezed my eyes a bit as I expected a large attack. "Damn it, hang on, Yusei." I said, bitting the tip of my thumb tighter and glared. I watched as an inferno type ball had formed from the purple symbol in the sky just before forming into a large red hand as if it came from the gates of hell. I saw a trap card being flipped open at Yusei's side and my eye's widened.

"Yes!~" I cheered with a grin; he didn't lose any life points, but that was just for now. I really hope this just ends soon...

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><p>"This is agonizing." I groaned to myself, seeing Yusei being attacked again and again by Kalin's attacks, "You were friends with this jerk?" I looked over to Crow with a slight glare as he rubbed the back of his hair.<p>

"It was a long time ago." Crow replied as I growled and focused back onto my screen, but that didn't last long.

"Crow! Cristina!" Someone called out as I looked over my shoulder. I got off of my bike and waved at the group I recognized. I couldn't help but smile at them. I saw that Rally was leading the mini group with a determined look; that adorable kid.

"Guys, where's Yusei? I don't see him anywhere." Rally asked in worry as I raised my hand and pointed towards the purple trailed path.

"That's where he is..." I said in a glum voice as Rally looked confused.

"He's dueling!" The group said in shock as I chuckled lamely.

"I really don't think there would be another reason why he is there." I muttered under my breath, shaking my head, "But this isn't some ordinary duel; it's life or death."

"Whose the guy he is battling?" Tank asked as I sighed and ruffled my hair. "It someone named Kalin...you heard of him?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Yeah, as in 'let's-take-over-Satellite' Kalin?" Tank responded as I slowly nodded; that seemed accurate.

"I thought that they locked him up for good and threw away the key." Nervin said as I smirked dully.

"Look's like they didn't throw it away far enough." Blitz said as I nodded.

"Is he the one who is behind the big glowy thing in the sky?" Rally asked as I looked at the sky again, "And your arm is glowing, Cristina!"

"Yeah, that always happens when weird stuff like this happens." I said with a sigh, "This is the dark signer thins Yusei was talking about before. We just found out that Kalin is part of the group."

"Kalin is using some dark mojo to trap Yusei in this seal, and forcing him to duel. Yusei only has 1800 life-points and Kalin has 4000." Crow added on as I smirked, "What is it?"

"Did you just say dark mojo? Couldn't find any other better words?" I mocked as he smirked lightly.

"Oh, shut up; I'd like to see you come up with something better." Crow said as the smirk still was evident on my face, "I came up with it on the spot..."

I smiled and looked down at the track. "So...you guys were a dueling gang here and took out the other dueling gangs, but then...Kalin decided to become more ruthless and took it too far." I explained, looking over to Crow as he nodded.

"At least you got the gist of it." Crow replied as I smiled sadly. Kalin is having revenge because of that. It was pretty sad, but I guess nothing works out in the end. Such a shame; I could definitely see that group friends for a long time. From the view of the track, Yusei was losing traction of his bike and it doesn't seem like it will last. I was worried about the outcome. The bike; it could be fixed and the parts could be replaced. Yusei...well, Yusei would have some bruises and such.

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><p>"Yusei, you better be careful or else!" I shouted as loud as I could, looking at the game in concern.<p>

"I don't think threatening Yusei while he is battling is a good idea." Tank said as I smirked and put my hands on my hips.

"He'll understand that he needs to step it up or he will get the wrath of my fist." I said with a grin as Tank sweatdropped. If it was my words or the fact that there was Rally and the others supporting him, he had somehow managed to put Stardust dragon upon the field; that was always a good thing. I glanced at the monitor of Rally and smiled, seeing that Stardust dragon was fully powered and Kalin's life-points going down dramatically.

"Now, I activate my trap, Synchro Destructor. Now when my dragon destroys your monster in battle, you take damage equal to half that monster's attack point, and then, if the monster I destoryed was a Synchro monster, you get hit again for the same amount of damage." Yusei said as I smiled.

"Finally, he is hitting back!" I said, pumping my fist in the air before fist pumping with Crow. Yusei was finally finding a way to have an advantage of Kalin and hopefully, ending this long-drawn duel soon. "Knew he would take my threatening manner in a good way."

"Whatever you say to make you feel better, Cristina." Crow joked, "All I know is that Kalin is going to be served a double dosage of his own medicine! If the move is successful, he will lose about 3000 life-points." I leaned towards the monitor to see that Kalin lost some of his life-points, but he was still standing as if he didn't take any damage. Not only that, but he had a trap to help him, then he had the nerve to laugh about it. I swear, once this is over... I am going to take care of this Kalin guy once this duel is over.

"I never like Kalin." Tank said as his eyebrows narrowed with irritation.

"He may have survived that attack, he's still going to be finished." Blitz said as I had to agree.

"That's right; he has no monsters on his field while Yusei has Stardust dragon on his field." I added.

"I bet a Salami sandwich that the facedown card on Yusei's field is Scrap-Iron Scarecrow." Nervin said, "After that, it is all over."

"Yeah, but then again, Yusei is smart. Yusei isn't going to be an idiot and just think it will be over in a flash. If anything, Kalin has something up his sleeve or he will go down swinging; whatever comes first." I argued, rubbing my hair in frustration, "Besides, we can't forget that time when Kalin added a card to his hand; who know what it is."

"What do you think it is?" Tank asked as I pondered for a moment.

"Something that I know I won't like. He's being all hush-hush about it; I hate it." I said, not afraid to show my displeasure...

"Come on out, everybody!" Kalin shouted as I raised an eyebrow; has he finally gone on the deep-end? I won't be surprised if he did... I looked at the track as was taken back.

"Am I seeing things, or are there...people on the track?" I asked with confusion, "Where the hell did they come from?"

"Trust me, Cristina, I see people too, and where they came from; your guess is as good as mine...or they could be the missing people of the Satellite." Crow replied as I frowned...

"They look like the the pawns that Yusei first verse in the parking lot." I mumbled under my breath, "I didn't realize that there were so many of them..."

I winced as I heard them started to scream in pain. Their bodies had turned into a bright purple before going into the air had forming into one central spot.

"Their energy has been assimilated! And now, I summon Ccapac Apu upon the world!" Kalin said as I raised an eyebrow. Ccapac Apu? I have never heard of something like that. I watched as an object formed in the air and it looked like a mechanical beating heart. That all ended once it had formed a large beam of light that looked like it reached high in the skies. I put my hands to shield the wind from getting into my eyes. I felt my mouth widen in shock as I watched a creature of some kind come from the ground.

"It's...it's enormous." I said in a speechless tone, not seeing anything that big. I saw the large Ccapac Apu reaching out to attack Yusei by Kalin's orders as my heart to beat faster.

"Yusei!" I yelled out, hoping he found a way to counterattack of defend himself. I saw that he used his Stardust dragon to attack Apu, but Stardust dragon went through the hand of the monster like it was transparent. I saw that he activated his Scrap-Iron Scarecrow.

"I don't think something so small like that can defend against a monster as big as the Turbo stadium, maybe even taller than that; I don't doubt it.

My breath hitched once I saw Yusei tumble off his bike and through the dirt. I looked down at my mark, seeing that it stopped glowing; that battle is over... I didn't bother to wait for the others as I dashed towards my bike. That bastard better be alive once I get down there. All I can tell is that he is hurt from what my mark is telling me...

"Cristina, don't rush in-" I cut off Crow's words.

"You can't stop me; remember, you still have to deal with my protectiveness and anger, and trust me; you'll have to deal with my anger a lot more than my protectiveness." I snapped, hopping onto my bike before revving the engine loudly, "Catch up if you can, but I am not waiting for anyone." With that, I raced down the mountain, hoping that once I reached the bottom, the track will erase and maybe, I could run over Kalin's body with my bike. I looked up as Ccapac Apu was now gone and so was the purple track. I sped down faster, ignoring the multiple scratched my duel runner was earning form my speed.

"...Whatever that tournament called you, that stupid Shooting Star from Satellite; they should change it to falling star." Kalin cackled, "Why don't you look at that, it's the girl who played with fire-"

"Why don't you keep your mouth shut before I do something I regret." I threatened with my eyes narrowed as he laughed harder, "If it wasn't for the connection you have with Yusei, I would have made you wished that you didn't get involve."

"With that attitude; I am surprised that you are not a dark signer, but don't worry about this connection between me and Yusei; it has been severed for a long time." He growled as I bit my lip, "Better look after him; who knows what might have happened to him. Broken bones or such; just make sure he's in better conditions to fight me, and tell him to make sure he duels as if it was his last time; I don't want a repeat of today." He gave Yusei one more mocking glare before smirking at me. He turned his bike around and drove off.

"Following him is not a good idea, Cristina." I told myself before getting off my bike and dashing towards Yusei, "You better be breathing." I went to his side and went on my knees, scanning his body for any...awkward arm positions or such; if anything was going in the wrong way. I heard him grunt before looking over my shoulder, seeing the other catch up. I didn't have any practice or knowledge about first-aid, but I will try my best. I removed his helmet as careful as I could as I saw him close his eyes in pain. I turned him onto his back as he groaned louder. I looked like a gaping fish once I saw the shard in his abdomen. That was never good.

"Sorry." I said quickly as he tried to move his hand, "Don't try to move!"

"M-my gut!" He replied as I saw the others.

"Cristina, how is he?" Rally asked as I shook my head. _Not too good_.

"We need someone who is good in medicine!" I said in a urgent voice. I heard a whirring sound and saw Crow's bike near us.

"Martha's the only one!" Crow said as I looked confused, but decided to ask later; hopefully, I will be filled in on the way. I backed up as Tank and Blitz carried Yusei carefully over to Crow's bike, "Cristina, you coming with or what? If you are, then hurry up and get on your bike!"

"Hold on!" I said, looking around frantically before going over to Yusei's bike. I bend near the wreckage of it and saw my black helmet. It was scratched, but was in decent condition. I ran towards my bike, almost falling over my feet, but kept it steady. I hopped onto my bike and nodded towards Crow.

"Stay safe, guys!" I warned before following Crow, still can't shaking the shard piece in his stomach.

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><p>I followed Crow to this large house and I was surprised that it was in the middle of nowhere, but it was fine with me. I got off my bike and jogged over to Yusei, looking down at the shard. "How are you holding up?" I asked in worry as he looked over at me with one eye opened slightly.<p>

"I-..I had better days." He said as I forced a smile.

"I am sure; is that the only place you are feeling pain?" I asked as he paused and grunted.

"Don't worry about me too much-"

"All arguments and words from you are invalid from this point. That's your fault for being friends with me." I said as he gave a small smile.

"I..I should have known." He struggled to say as I nodded.

"Try not to say too much and keep yourself awake." I told him before leaning over to kiss his forehead.

"I really doubt about going to sleep...with a shard...in my side." He said sarcastically as I smiled. I looked over my shoulder once Crow started to bang on the door. I watched as the door opened, and a middle-aged woman opened it. I was kind of surprised. I was expecting...not to offend her...but someone more younger, but this was fine with me. As long as she can help. I saw that she was looked over here and saw the slumped form of Yusei.

"Is that Yusei?!" She called out in worry, "What's going on?"

"It's a long story, but we need to keep him warm." I said as she looked at me for a brief moment and nodded.

"I need hands out here, people; come help me." Martha ordered as I looked to who else was in the house, "Get Yusei inside."

_Please Martha, your our only hope..._

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><p>I rubbed Rally's back in comfort as we sat on the steps of the house, everything having a sad tone. We were all awaiting for some news that Yusei will be fine and recover; even Blister was here. I didn't ask on why Rally and the others were only in their boxers, but I will ask once the time seems appropriate. I watched as Rally stared at the helmet that was Yusei with a depressed expression. I sighed and leaned more lazily against the steps, hoping that Yusei will make it out of the surgery okay again...<p>

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><p>Some way want to kill me, but I am truly sorry. I was neglecting this after a while and had some SERIOUS writer block, but I worked my way through it. Yes, there will be mistakes, yes, this follows the plotline. And yes, most questions will be answered in the next chapter~<p>

Umm..yes, there is a shard in Yusei's abdomen, might make the next episode bloody. Reason is because I saw the japanese version and there was a shard, unlike the 'clean' version. CLEAN VERSION SUCKS~

Review and Rate please~

Xoxbattleangel~


	24. Chapter 23

Jesus, don't kill me for the longish wait...It was very too long. Anyways; here you go!

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><p>Christina's Pov~<p>

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><p>Fiddling my thumbs together was the only thing I could do to calm my nerves, but it didn't help me in my slightly panicked mode. The surgery has been going on for a while and we haven't received any news yet. No one even dared talk.<p>

"Poor Yusei." Rally said under his breath as I put an arm around him and gave him a slight hug.

"He'll work through it. Nothing ever stopped him before and this won't either." I said as Rally didn't look at me and continued to rub the helmet. I shook a bit as I heard a door open and looked over. I stood up, seeing Martha and the doctor with pleasant faces.

"Tell us Doc, how is he doing?" Crow asked in a frantic voice as I was too awaiting the news.

"It looks like he'll make a complete recovery." Martha said as I let out a sigh of relief.

"But it would seem like he will need a couple more days of recovery resting in bed, but he will be fine. Just keep him from underground duels for a while." He said as I shook my head and leaned against the wooden pole against the steps.

"That's not going to be an easy process, but I am sure we can manage that." I said and ruffled Rally's hair, "See, I told you he would work through it. I am never wrong."

"Most of the time you are, Cristina." Crow added as I gave him a teasing glare.

"So, what now?" Nervin asked.

"Now...? We find that dark signer and make him pay!" Crow said, shaking with adrenaline as I sighed. I reached over and slapped him in the back of the head.

"Yeah, let's just go around asking people if they see a white haired man with the crazy look in his eye. I am sure we will get some answers like that." I said sarcastically.

"Got any better ideas?" Crow asked with a small pout as I crossed my arms.

"You bet your ass I do; it's-"

"ACHOO!" I heard as I nearly jumped. Tank, Blitz, Nervin, and Rally had all sneezed all in union. I would lie if I said it wasn't cool.

"Since it's an appropriate time, why didn't you guys have your clothes on when you got here. I was a bit creeped out." I explained as Rally looked up.

"We had to get here without any clothes to distract the people from taking Yusei's bike..."

"You distracted them with your killer bodies?" I teased as the blush on his face had darken slightly, "Wow, that's very dare-devilish-"

"No, it wasn't that...! Everyone here takes what they can get, even clothes. We must have all caught a cold when getting here." Rally said as I nodded and smiled. The things Yusei's friends do for him; hell, I would have been hesitant to do that. Actually, I would have threatened anyone in my way.

"With a butcher knife..." I finished my thought out loud with a determined nod. I saw Crow giving me a strange look as I chuckled, "Nevermind."

"Perfect; I'll make some soup." Martha said as I shot up.

"I'll help you!" I said with a grin, "Perfect time to actually know you better." Martha gave me a soft smile as she walked down the dim-lit hallway as I followed after her.

"You already know me from Crow's shouting earlier today, but I don't know you." She said as I put my hands behind my back.

"My name is Cristina. It's nice to meet you." I introduced myself, "So...not trying to pry, but who are you?"

"I guess Yusei still likes to keep hush-hush; he was always the quiet one, but so sweet. I'm his... you can call me his foster mother. I took care of him. I take care of any child in the Satellite. Someone needs to watch out for them." Martha said, "Him, Jack, and Crow always loved to get involved with duel monster, even at a young age. He loved to be around cars and such, though, that caused him to be the topic of everyone's joke, but Jack was with him and defended him every time... So many memories at that time... Then those fools started getting older and I didn't see them anymore... Yusei has been the many causes of all of this wrinkles, but...through that...I am glad that I got to take care of him... Look at me, rambling on like some old woman, but I am still curious onto something..." I didn't realize that she was asking me a questioned and shook my head. I wanted to hear more about her and Yusei, but I guess that can wait...

"Is he still afraid of bugs? I remember a long time ago that he went into a bushes to play hide-and-seek with the others, next thing you know, I heard a loud scream. I ran outside, thinking he got hurt and fell over something, but actually, he just had a spider on his shirt. I remember after that, he tried to avoid the bushes and I am not sure if he still has that fear." Martha questioned as a smile popped onto my face.

"I have to test that theory real soon; do you have any fake spiders lying around here?" I asked as she chuckled and patted my back.

"You might cause him a heart attack." She replied as we finally made it to the kitchen. I watched as she pulled out a large pot from the cabinet, "Can you get some potatoes and some of that yellow sauce on the bottom shelf in the refrigerator. You can't miss it." I walked over to the fridge and pulled it open, grabbing the ingredients.

"How do you know Yusei?" She asked as I put the ingredients on the counter. I sighed and crossed my arms.

"It's a long story, but um... let me give you a short version of the ridiculous plot of what happened. Not too long ago I think... I came home to see the children I was babysitting were baby-sitting a _stranger_. A stranger with a mark on his face. I was calm...most people would have been freaking if they see some criminal, but the children I was babysitting weren't freaked out and weren't in a panic so I wasn't. Turns out they decided to bring him inside. He had amnesia...didn't know anything, but of course, he knew how to duel. Shocker. Anyways, after he regained his memory, he didn't want us to get involved with him, thinking he would be trouble, and left. Events happened in between that and next thing you know, we were in the turbo dueling tournament together and... you can say the rest is history... more like being involved in jumbling things, but you can get the idea." I explained as she looked closely at me.

"Your his girlfriend." She flatly said it as my eyes widen and laughed nervously.

"N-no, I'm not. Just some ridiculous girl with-...is it that obvious?" I asked as she laughed and nodded her head.

"I didn't think he would."

"I don't know." I said with a smile, "I think the term girlfriend and boyfriend seems to freak him out a bit. Maybe he's trying to see where this leads him...I mean... we are still in that...dating phase, and by dates, I mean almost being attacked by sketchy people, but yeah. Talking it is still kind of weird but... I am the proud and very stubborn girlfriend of the ever stubborn Yusei Fudo."

"As long as someone can knock some sense into him; that's fine. Just don't let him push himself too hard." Martha said as I nodded and leaned on the counter, "You think those advice are free young lady? You need to help me with this soup in return." I chuckled and took off my gloves, going over to potatoes to start cutting them.

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><p>I rolled around and snapped my eyes opened as I heard the wood creak from my weight. I sat up and tried to refold my jacket so it could be a temporary replacement as a pillow, but I could already feel the strain in my neck. The gray sheet was pretty good to keep me warm. I stretched my arms over my head and stood up, trying to smooth out my hair.<p>

"I do miss my bed." I grumbled and took my jacket off the ground, putting it over my shoulder. I looked around and remembered how I got here. I didn't hear any news of Yusei waking up so it wouldn't be wise to visit him. Besides, it would be creepy to watch him while he sleeps. I shook my head at the thought and heard my shouts from outside.

"If there's another dark signer, I swear..." I mumbled under my breath as I started to make my way to the door and pushed it open. I immediately closed my eyes from the intense light and looked around.

"No way, the red one looks so much cooler!" I heard a young boy said as I slipped inside my jacket and buttoned it up, "I bet it's faster."

"No way, the black one isn't beat up and looks smoother."

"So what if the red one is beat up; it still looks awesome." A kid argued as I chuckled.

"I think the black one can kick the red one's butt any day; the Phantom Inferno." I said happily. I actually forgot what I use to call it, "Legend says that it goes so fast that it's almost like you can't see it." I definitely got the attention of one kid.

"Is it true?" He asked looking up as the other kid scoffed.

"It can't be true; nothing is that fast." That kid was such a bummer.

"Of course it is because it's my bike!" I argued as he crossed his arms.

"Oh yeah, how do you know if it goes fast? You probably never been in turbo duel before." He retorted as I sighed.

"Geez, you are more stubborn than Leo. It goes fast because I have never seen the taillight of any other duel runner."

"No, you went against that Yusei guy and he was in first place..." I frowned at his words and rolled my eyes.

"Fine then. Guess you won't have a chance to ride my bike then..." I taunted as his eyes widened.

"N-no fair-"

"Kidding you little brat." I teased, picking him up and placed him on my bike, "What's your name?"

"Rian..." He said and reached over to try and turn it on.

"Hey, no turning it on and trying to steal my ride." I teased and patted his head, "Does this turn your mind."

"No, the red bike is still better." He said in a smug tone as I shook my head.

"I guess your are harder to crack." I joked and turned and looked at the house. It was pretty big from where I could see it. I looked around and saw one window open. I squinted my eyes. I tilted my head in confusion and and saw someone. I saw an arm moving and chuckled.

"Guess the idiot is awake." I said with a laugh and wave slightly to him, "Don't go anywhere guys." I started to jog into the house and slammed the door open, using more force than necessary. I quickly walked into the room and knocked before entering.

"Don't think I heard that door being slammed." Martha accused in a teasing voice as I gave her a sheepish grin, "I'll let it slide. She's trouble Yusei."

"I already know that." Yusei agreed, popping an apple piece into his mouth, "How are you?"

"The real question is how are you? I wasn't the one with a shard in me. It looked pretty painful. You think you are okay?" I asked, reaching over to swipe off a piece from his plate.

"I can sit up so it's going good so far, but you don't need to worry about me. How are Rally and the others? I heard that they brought my bike here; that was no easy task as I can imagine." He said with a slight frown as I smiled.

"They are sick, but if anything, they are happy to brought your back here." I said as Yusei nodded.

"You still haven't answered my question. How are you? I mean, you must miss Leo and Luna." He said as I groaned and leaned back against the wall.

"Don't get me started. I am freaking out. I wish I had a way of communicating with them. Hopefully, they are okay. I know that Leo gets withdrawal symptoms whenever he doesn't get his cinnamon buns that I usually get. Never seen a kid so depressed like that before." I joked, "But I can't wait till all of this is over. I won't admit it to his face, but I really do miss him a lot."

"I'll be sure to tell him that." Yusei said with a smirk as I glared.

"I guess you didn't listen to me when I said, 'I won't admit it to his face.'" I repeated as he shrugged, but I saw him wince a bit.

"I know that..." He added as I looked over to Martha.

"You sure you don't have a spider anywhere, Martha?" I asked and smirked as I heard Yusei choke a bit.

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><p>"I still can't believe that they brought it over here." Yusei said as he bent down slowly and looked at the scratches and dents that the duel runner received when he was versing Kalin. The calm look on his face turned into something of disappoint.<p>

"Kalin...why?" He asked under his breath as I cleared my throat.

"Hey, we can fix this up in no time. Just find some new parts here and there- respray it and bam; your baby is reborn." I said, trying to lighten up the mood.

"Yusei, your up! Finally!" I heard the ever-so happy Rally shout out as I saw Nervin next to him. Yusei stood up as I glared at him once he grimaced again and held his side.

"I will send your ass back in there." I threatened as he shook his head.

"I'm fine." He insisted and gave his friends a small smile, "Hey guys."

"Sheesh, Yus. You look terrible." Nervin said as Rally budged him a bit, "Hey, it's the truth; at least he is moving now. A quick recovery."

"Quick, but he's not fully healed." I said, "But better than not healing at all. How are you guys; you had a good sleep?"

"Not exactly; Tank was taking up all the room and he wouldn't stop moving; not only that, but he snores." Rally complained as I chuckled; thank god I slept in the hallway...in that...creepy...dark...hallway...

"And he's doesn't smell like flowers either." Nervin added as I shook my head, "But it's fine. Thanks to you and Martha, our cold is going away."

"You made soup?" Yusei asked as I shrugged.

"It was more like me watching her make it, but yes, I contributed in some form." I said with a smile, "But that's not the point. Since most of us are awake...what should we do now?"

"Our main objective is the dark signers." Yusei said with a determined voice, clenching his fist, "And to end him once and for all."

"Yeah; that's the general plan, but you shouldn't be talking like your all hot-shot, buddy. You don't have a useable duel runner and your still in crude condition. Your not going anywhere." I said, flicking his stomach as he winced and glared slightly.

"Your bike! Hey, if you need anything for your bike, we can get them with you no problem. It wasn't as easy as last time, but we can get them faster, Yusei. Any thing and we will do it." Rally said as Nervin looked more or less agreeable with that statement.

"Guys..." He said slowly and shook his head, "I'm sorry for making you guys go though with this. I caused you guys to do so many things that-"

"Save it, Yusei. Even with your dramatic speech, they won't change their minds. Besides, your kind of worth it; going through this. Helping you is just part of the job of being friends." I said as Nervin nodded.

"She's right. An apology is not necessary. We are friends." Nervin added as Rally jumped in the air.

"The best of friends!" Rally cheered as I gave him a high five. Yusei looked at us all and nodded with a smile. Even with no words; I know he thanked us.

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><p>Here you go...I am such a procrastinator because this was too long of a unofficial hiatus ^^"<br>Review and Rate please~

Thoughts and concerns appreciated~

Xoxbattleangel~


	25. Chapter 24

Cristina's Pov

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><p>"From the Tops...? I heard it's a fancy place over there. I heard they were a snooty bunch; no offense." Martha commented as I nodded with a laugh and ate more of my soup. It was dark out and almost eight a'clock. Compared to my home, the sky was so much more visible. You could see so many stars—the moon never looked so good until now. Thinking of Tops, I was wondering about Luna and Leo; those brats better be careful.<p>

"Cristina..." I looked over to see Rally looking at me. I blinked and saw that my whole body was turned towards the window as if I was expecting some meteor shower to happen right before my eyes, "Martha was trying to call you for a while. She was asking if you wanted more soup?" I didn't even know that I zoned out. I twisted back in my chair and shook my head, refusing any more food from Martha. It was nice of her to slave herself in the kitchen and make us so much food. I smirked at Nervin's attempt of lightening up the mood with some jokes that were less than funny. Tank was quick to point it out, prompting chuckles form all around the table of misfits and whatnot. I glanced over to the sky again, leaning back in my chair as I saw what looked like a purple hue in the sky. As I narrowed my eyes, I saw that it curved irregular.

"What the—" I said under my breath, losing my fitting on the ground and crashing backwards in my chair. I winced in pain, but that was something I wasn't concerned about at the moment. That symbol in the sky that was forming.

"Cristina, you alr—" I got up before Yusei could offer a hand, I scrambled up to my feet, hopping over the chair and leaving the dining room. Another duel... I looked down at my arm, seeing the mark starting to form and that sensation coming back. Damn, who was battling now? I got out and saw a better view of it, trying to pinpoint where it was... It was kind of hard to say. I heard footsteps and looked over to Yusei.

"Any guesses?" I asked him as he said nothing before nodding, giving me an answer. "It's new Domino city." Since the location is settled. I looked at the sky carefully and raised an eyebrow...it looked like...two signs in the sky...two battles?

"This is no doubt a shadow duel—two actually." I said in a grim tone. _What if it was Luna battling a Dark Signer...? _That made me over-think it. Tanner and Yanagi were with those two and will protect them...right? I frowned and bit my lip, rocking on my heels quickly.

"Hey." Yusei spoke softly, putting a hand on my shoulder. "It's probably not Luna."

"You don't know that." I quickly said, a little snappy. I let out a sigh, "Sorry, I'm just—"

"I know, but don't assume the worse right from the get-go." I mumbled incoherent words under my breath, but nodded. At the moment, I almost regret for leaving Luna and Leo to go to the Satellite and help out Yusei..._almost_.

I winced and grunted as a flash a pain emitted from my mark. What was that? "It was like that time that I dueled Kalin." It was frustrating that I couldn't do anything about this...now I know what it feels like to be useless. Jack could be a possibility...but what about Akiza...? Was she battling? That was a big possibility.

"Anywho, we can't do anything now, we should head back inside, Cristina." I said as I reluctantly nodded and followed him back inside... _Be careful, guys_...

* * *

><p>"Any progress?" I asked, sitting on the ground and watching Yusei work, glancing over his form to see Blister on a computer. "Little by little, but yeah. Does your runner need tune up?"<p>

"No, grease monkey." I teased as he smirked, sitting up and revving the engine as Blister approached, "That sounds like a engine ready for dueling."

"I'll say. You did good work, Yus." Blister said as Yusei nodded and slowly started to get up. His wound started to heal so he was able to move around much better.

"Thanks. I'm almost ready." He replied and glanced over to him, "Do you have any news on what has been happening in the city? Anything involving the sign in the sky last night?"

"The whole city is in chaos over from last night. The battle last night ruined ten city blocks." Blister said as I stood up and looked at the screen, my eyes widening. That was some serious destruction right there. What was more surprising was the tower that was the center of the signs. I recognized it.

"That's the Arcadia Movement building. It's in the epicenter of everything." I murmured under my breath.

"Do you think they went after Akiza?" Yusei asked and it could have been a possibility.

"Most likely. She's currently in the hospital. I managed to hack into her records and it seems like she is in a comatose state." Blister said, turning over to Yusei and me, "Are you guys going to go over there and help her? It seems like she needs some friends right now just like you had friends when you were all banged up."

"Yeah, but I don't know. I will probably make things worse for her." Yusei said as I shook my head.

"Yusei, don't you remember that time in the tournament when you dueled her? You are probably the only one who saw her for who she was and not some monster... I am sure she needs your help." I said to him. I looked over as I heard a noise that sounded like...helicopter blades. I put my hands to cover my face from my face.

"What could that be?" Yusei said over the noise as I looked at him.

"Yusei, I think it's an airplane." My sarcastic side got tot he best of me as he looked over with a small, but playful glare.

"I don't know, but be ready." Blister said, as if we are about to be ambushed. I watched as the helicopter landed and the wings slowing down. There was a man coming out and I gasped in shock.

"Oh my god." I said as Blister looked over.

"What is it?"

"That's the senator of New Domino City; Hideo Izinski." I said with a gasp as Yusei gave me a weird look.

"I didn't take you for one to keep up with politicians."

"It was one of those days where I was deathly bored..."

"Are you Yusei Fudo?" The senator asked, immediately going to Blister who was speechless for a moment, but shook his head.

"No, the man you are looking for is him." Blister said, motioning to Yusei next to him. Mr. Izinski looked taken-back for a second, but said nothing, looking over to Yusei and I knew what his eyes were staring at. The mark on his cheek. He really shouldn't assume on looks, but I guess that is how some politicians work.

"Why are looking for me?" Yusei asked as the man sighed and it looked like anxiety was washing over him.

"Do you think we can talk inside?" He asked and I could hear the impatience under his tone. Yusei looked at us and shrugged. Hopefully, Martha wouldn't mind another _snooty_ person.

"I'd like to thank you for taking the time to talk to me, Mr. Fudo." The senator said as Yusei said nothing, wanting him to get to the point on why he was here; everyone in the room was curious about it, "I'm here because I need you to save my daughter, Akiza." _That was a plot twist_...

"You're the Dad...I've heard of you. Not too flattering I'm afraid senator." Yusei said with a steely undertone.

"I know, but I'm trying to make things right." He said, slamming his fist on the table as Martha gave him a warning glance, "She's in the hospital suffering from some heartache that is my fault."

_I don't think that is a symptom_. I mused in my mind, but didn't bother to say it out loud. "I pushed her away and she joined that Arcadia Movement. With Sayer missing, she has no one. She doesn't even respond to us...that is why I am here."

"No wonder she ran away." I said under my breath as Yusei nudged me.

"Before I let my Yusei run off, how about you give us the whole story, from the beginning." Martha demanded as I saw the 'protective-mother' glint in her eye.

"Okay then, but let me warn you that I was never chosen as father of the year... I had an important job..."

I leaned into my seat and listened as the story. He really didn't have much a choice it seems. It almost reminded me of my father's strict schedule, but it wasn't only about that. It was just trying to live up to expectations for the family. Keeping up the reputation and continue this lineage as a powerful household. I disliked every moment of it... As I listened to the story, I narrowed my eyes at him.  
>"You dared call your own daughter a monster?" I asked in a tense voice, "The time where she was scared and confused the most; you pushed her so back so far that she wasn't the same. Some father you are."<p>

"I—" I didn't to let him finish.

"I didn't care if you lost your job at the moment or even having some emotional break down. You're a father. You should have acted like one in the beginning. Even if Sayer came into her life, you should have kept up with her, trying to mend the relationship you had with her, or whatever that was left in it... I guess who ever is up there decided to give you another chance to make peace with your past so it doesn't spoil your present." I spoke out and didn't realized that I was speaking so hard that my was panting. I felt my face, feeling heat radiate off of it... I got a bit into it. I coughed and sat back down. "Sorry, I was—"

"It's fine. I don't deserve pity at this point...you gave me the facts straight...but Yusei, I need you. I can't heal the damage I have done to her, but maybe you can. Jack said you were the closest one to becoming her friend, helping her.

"Right now, I don't think I have the strength to help her—"

"But you must!" The senator said quickly, grasping onto Yusei's hand as I withheld any immature comments for this tense situations, "Jack thinks you need to duel her again. He said you could wake her up from her coma."

"I would, but I am in no shape to help anyone right now..." Yusei said in a reluctant voice. Accept it Yusei, you are her only hope...

"For goodness sake, Yusei. You cannot turn your back on this poor girl or so help me..." Martha said with a stern voice.

"Unless you are afraid to duel again." I said, looking at him as his eyes widened, "You need to stop focusing on that duel with Kalin. You need to move on."

"Listen to her Yusei. Besides, your wounds are healed, your bike is repaired, what is holding you back?" Martha asked, going over to Yusei and pinching his ear as I giggled a bit, "Yusei, if you aren't going to help that girl, why did I even patch you up in the first place? If I taught you one thing, Yusei, it is to help your friends...they are waiting for you...and if everything you said about these Dark Signers and the purple lights is true, then you will need their help wether you want to admit it or not. You are going to end up nowhere if you stay here. I can't imagine how scared, but you have to face that fear..." Mama Martha laying down the law. I couldn't help, but smirk at her. I saw the senator standing up and _still _holding onto Yusei's hand...

"So, you'll help, thank you!" He said in a grateful tone.

"Maybe after this, you can settle down and bring your girlfriend on a date. None of that crazy dark signer dates, those aren't good enough dates, Yusei. I taught you better than that." Martha teased as I blushed lightly, but laughed. Yusei blushed as well, rubbing the back of his head as Martha kept on persisting him.

"I'm trying to save the world, Martha." Yusei said as I let out a harder laugh, Blister joining out as well.

"His other girlfriend is that Runner of his." Blister laughed out. Yusei was annoyed, but relieved.

"Let's get going, Mr. Fudo." Senator announced, _finally_ taking his hand off Yusei. If I didn't know any better, I thought the senator was hitting on Yusei.

"Wait. If there's a friend in help, then I'm coming too, as much as I love Martha's cooking." I said, proudly pointing to my chest before putting an arm around Yusei's neck, "We're like a package deal."

"I thank you as well... It seems like I never got your name." The senator said as I smiled.

"Cristina Y. Witen at your service." I said as his eyes widen a bit, but he nodded nonetheless... I am wondering why.

* * *

><p>"I never liked hospitals." I mumbled, walking down the hallway with the two gentlemen and looked up the hallway, a smile going onto my face as I saw the familiar teal color.<p>

"Luna! Leo!" I said, pushing past Yusei and running at the two, grasping them and holding them tightly, spinning them in the air, "I missed you guys so much!"

"Where were you? Did you go after Yusei?" Luna asked as I put them back down and nodded, looking at them carefully, "What's wrong?"

"Just making sure you guys look okay...Leo, as usual, you look more chubbier." I said as Leo huffed and crossed his arms.

"For someone who said they missed us, you're pretty rude." I smiled at his words and kissed his forehead.

"That's the personality; get over it." I said and stood up, blinking as I was face-to-face with Jack Atlas.

"Pretty cool, huh, meeting a superstar like him." Leo boasted as I thought about it...

"Last time I saw you, you were on a gurney being carried away by Carly." I said as he huffed and turned away.

"Don't tell me you are a stalker too."

"I'm the exact opposite, Jack." I said, crossing my hands over my chest in the same way he was doing, "Shouldn't be doing some publicity stunt? Making some cheesy lines up? You know, the usual?"

"Hey, hey, no fighting. Akiza needs our help." Luna scolded as I pouted and turned away.

"Hey, Yusei, I knew you would show up!" Leo said, waving at the man as Yusei kept a calm face.

"Hey guys." Yusei said as the senator opened the door to let all of us in. I walked over to the side and watched as Yusei approached her, putting out a hand on her shoulder. As soon as that happened, all of our marks glowed. Soon enought, she opened her eyes.

"Sleeping beauty is awake." I said with a small smile, seeing her get up slowly. She looked genuinely curious and dare I say it, _innocent_.

"Akiza." Hideo called out to her as she looked over and shock controlled her face and anger settled in. So much for that peaceful moment.

"What are they doing here? In case you didn't know, I've got a new family, Sayer's all I need now—" She stopped herself and it looked like she was remembering something, most likely about him. By her jerky reaction, I say it was bad, "H-he was all that I had left...He was more of a father to me than you ever were! This is all your fault!"

"It was the Dark Signer-"

"Stay out of this, Yusei! That **stranger** over there ruined my life! Where am I suppose to go now? There's nothing left for me except a home in ruins...and another father that's missing. If you are trying to erase the past don't bother; I already did that!" Akiza said, pushing Yusei back, grabbing her duel disk, and jumping back... For a girl who just got out of a coma, she moved pretty fast, "Now I think I will erase you from my memory as well."

"I know this is hard to take in, but if you need to duel to find out who your friends are, then fine, I am right here." Yusei assured her as she scoffed.

"Friends? Like you _Signers_?" She said as if it was some type of disease, "From the moment I met you, my life was completely torn apart! Thanks to that thing on my arm. That's no one's fault but your own." She couldn't be serious. I wanted to protest, but something told me that my input wouldn't matter and make things worse.

"Akiza, please let us help you—"

"You all wanted to destroy my life! Well, I won't let that happen!" She said, placing down a card. Next thing I know, I was sliding back from the gust of wind. I looked around, seeing everything ruined.

"I guess there is no other way to get through to you." Yusei said, activating his duel disk.

"A duel, huh? I thought you were never going to ask me...I will get rid of you once and for all." Akiza said as I looked at the two of them worried. I hope they will be okay...

* * *

><p>Maybe OOC Yusei obviously and being a Yu Gi Oh show, it is obviously dramatic. Sorry for the wait ^^<p>

Xoxbattleangel~

Lemme know if I have any mistakes


	26. Chapter 25

Cristina's Pov~

* * *

><p>Panic was the only thing in my mind at the moment. My hair was whipping harshly against my face. The purple leaves that was formed from one of Akiza's card was making it hard to see anything. I felt Leo and Luna brushing against my legs.<p>

"I can't see what is happen–" I pushed Leo back behind me with a firm grasp on his head. There was a reason I told them to go behind me. There were literally items from the room being hurled around. I should be glad that I wasn't smacked with a bed yet, "Crist–"

"Be quiet, Leo, and you better be behind me or else!" I looked over to him to the best of my abilities with my eyes narrowed. I was glad that he seemed to shrink down. I looked up to the battle and felt my eyes widening at the sight of Mr. Izinski moving forward and getting closer to Akiza. I still didn't like him from what I heard about their whole relationship being based off of fear and hatred.

"Mr. Izinski. It's not a good idea to get closer." My heeds of warning did not reach his ears as he moved forward to his daughter, "Shoot…"

"That man is an idiot." Jack groaned out as I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. I forgot that he was here with us, "Does he think he can change anything? It's too late!" I wanted to agree on that last note. She couldn't control her powers. The chaos happening in the room was proof enough. Even so, I just have a…I don't know, an assumption, that something might change for the best. I was desperately for a change of good compared to all the crap we have been through with her.

The noise of metal grinding against the ground caught my attention. I looked over to where the cabinets where and saw one moving slowly forward, the noise becoming the bane to my existence at the moment. There was one cord that was preventing the cabinet from being airborne. No amount of praying would help it as the tension in cord was too much; the cabinet went hurling towards the wall. I pushed Leo and Luna closer to me if possible. Leo was hitting my leg, complaining about how his cheek was too squished against my leg.

"Akiza!"

"I can't control it!" She cried out to the point where I desperately wanted to help the lost girl…but what can I do? I can only watch and hope that I am not hit by anything that could kill me… And while the terms of someone being hit, Akiza called out, "Father!"

I let out a gasp as I saw the fiend of the cabinet. It was heading straight for him. Am I really about to see someone die? I rather go through my whole life no seeing it to be honest; I don't have enough money for therapy. I closed my eyes, waiting to hear screams and the bone-crushing sound of….bones crushing, but nothing happened…I blinked in surprise when I heard the cabinet crashing to the ground, but there was no noise of blood splattering or bones being crushed. I opened my eyes to see the purple leaves slowly disappearing as if it was a dream. The room was obviously messed up, but it was better than the last few minutes with everything going haywire. Everyone seemed fine. I quickly looked over my shoulder, I was sure I was going to break my neck, and saw Luna and Leo.

"Are you two–"

"We are fine, you worry wort." Leo replied with a small scoff as I smiled in relief. He was obviously fine if he can make snarky remarks. Glancing over to Luna, she gave me a reassuring look as well.

"Aki…my little girl…" Akiza's father said as he dropped down to his knees. I heard someone in short pants and looks over to Akiza, her eyes watery. She had her arms over, outstretching a little, but they seemed hesitant. The fear of being rejected again. I could only smile when Mr. Iziniski outstretched his arms, letting her know it was alright. That was when the water works came into play. Akiza dashed over to her father as if she forgot about the duel. She put her hands on his shoulders before they drifted down to touch his hands, tugging on them so he could go back on his feet once more. With no words spoken, they hugged. A good ending…well, almost, Yusei and Akiza were in the middle of a battle…I am not sure if people could end it just like that. Probably not.

"Yusei…" That's the first time I heard her say his name softly with no malice, "End this battle…please." It seems like Yusei respected her wishes because he wasted no time going to this one-sided battle at the moment. After opening his trap card, his Stardustdragon gained twice the amount of its attack points. After a cheesy one-liner, which I need to scold him for that, the duel ended. After Akiza lost all her lifepoints, she fell to the ground.

"Yusei won?" Luna asked as Leo cheered.

"Of course he won, he's Yusei Fudo!" Leo said. That numbskull. I ruffled Leo's hair before making my way over to the two duelist.

"Nice job, shooting star." I murmured over to him, my hands on my hips and he put his deck back into his pouch. I him say a soft 'yeah' so I wouldn't have to worry. Despite that, I didn't like the amount of scratches he obtained from the match. "You feeling okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm glad that she was able to get control of her _own_ life and be free. I have a feeling many things are going to change…" I nodded at his words and watched as he moved over to the second heartfelt event happening between daughter and father.

"Akiza, your father said he accepts you. If you want it so, that will be your 'place.' Think for yourself now." Yusei told her as a small smile was on her face.

"My place…" She repeated, letting the tears stream down her face, "is right here." She grasped her father's hand.

"I knew it. This mark was a bond of friendship!" Leo rejoiced as the twins approached us.

"Although, you don't have one…" I mocked, Leo starting to pout, "You don't have to remind me, Cristina."

Yusei rolled up his sleeve to look at his own mark and said, "We were all drawn together to become friends…so it's not a wretched mark like you said…" The word 'friend' seemed to put Akiza in a sour mood again as she looked away.

"But…I had a friend I once trusted…" Akiza spoke, "I still hold those feelings in my heart."

"I had a friend like that too." Yusei agreed, "His thoughts and mine didn't see eye-to-eye so we drifted apart." He must be talking about that Kalin guy, "We can't see how those thoughts will take their course now. But, since we used to call each other friends, I'll gear up for the worst and press forward." Akiza seemed to take those words into consideration as she stood up, but needed her father's help.

"Yusei…I will…try to be friends with you…all of you." She seemed determined to make it happen, but it was going to be a long process; trust doesn't happen in one day.

"Good enough for me." Yusei admitted with a smile. I breathed out a sigh. Finally, the Akiza saga is over.

"Cristina, Leo, Luna…I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier." Akiza apologized as I raised an eyebrow, "I should have listened to you guys, but I kept on pushing you back and–"

"Akiza, it's fine. You don't have to apologize. Besides, I yell at these brats 24/7; they are already use to it." I interrupted as Leo whined.

"That's mean of you, Pyro-lady–"

"I'll end you." I threatened, grabbing the back of his jacket before he had a chance to hide behind someone else and pulled on his ears, "What did I say about calling me that!?"

"It's true."

"Lies!" I heard Yusei complaining that I was being rough with Leo, but that did not stop me from smacking Leo upside his head; I have gotten use to the scolding look of him.

* * *

><p>The list of children were long and I think it went on for a while. They all had happy and shining faces, all full of hope. The videos were drastically different. "Experiment 109." My eyes widened in shock at the sight of a child with wires attached to his body and mechanized needles getting dangerously close to him; the first video of a kid crying out for them to stay back. Another clip showing him dueling and developing his psychic powers. Next clip showing him having watts of energy being thrown in his body, making him let out a blood-curling scream… The anger in my eyes was proof that I did not approve of this. If not, it was the incessant muttering under my breath of how I was going to slice them to pieces.<p>

"This is what we discovered from the half-destroyed Arcadia Movement headquarters, yesterday." Mina announced and from the corner of my eye, Akiza was looking away. "There were details concerning the children abducted by the Arcadia Movement and the live testing conducted in their facility recorded…The Public Service Maintenance Bureau had conducted investigation on this case, but this will be powerful evidence."

"The Arcadia Movement was building an army with all these children? An army full of psychics?" I questioned as Mina nodded, "What were they planning to do with them?"

"Send them into war-torn regions as soldiers…you were one of them Akiza." Mina handed her the holographic chart as there was the red-head beauty herself. Akiza looked horrified. All her life— all she thought she was doing, for the greater good, was a lie.

"Akiza." I said cautiously, about to put a hand on her shoulder, but she turned around and dashed out of the room.

"You can turn your eyes and cover your ears, but it won't change the truth." Mina yelled out as I sighed.

"Shouting won't help anything, Simington." I said as I ran after Akiza. Akiza was a pretty fast runner.

"Akiza…" I grasped her arm as she looked over, grief-stricken. I can't just say everything will be fine when it won't be.

"Let's go sit down at the café." I suggested as she looked down and nodded, "Come on, I am sure coffee and some pastries will make us forget about loud-mouth Mina." The joke didn't seem to bring a smile on her face. I led us down the hallway, looking over so often to make sure she was following me and not planning to run away. I sat her down on one of the seats and went over to the bar to go get tea and coffee. Adding onto that was a small flaky pastry with strawberry filling; I hoped she had a sweet tooth like I do.

"I am not sure if you like coffee actually so I got you tea instead." I slid the cup over to her and crossed my legs as I sat down, leaning forward in my seat. I slid the pastry over to her too. I waited for her to talk, not really minding the view that was outside.

"I'm glad…" She spoke out finally, "...nonetheless." Though, I had no idea what she was talking about, "Sayer accepted me unlike the others, even if he was trying to use my powers for…_that_... His existence was invaluable to me."

I took a deep long sip of my coffee; the burning sensation was strong, but it filled me up.

"I…" I started out, unsure if I would sound good, "I think I understand… I mean, him supporting you nearly all your life. He took you in and accepted you, welcomed you as if you were part of the family. I think it is now a shock to you that he was using your powers to add onto the army of psychics…"

"Is it selfish of me to think that way?" She asked as I quickly shook my head, giving her a soft smile to reassure her that none of this is her fault.

"No, never. Don't think that way. He did not reject you nor was he afraid of your powers….Me and the others won't do that either… Why should I reject your powers that are apart of you while I am still having trouble accepting myself and my responsibility as a Signer. I have no right, but I can say this…no matter what has happened in the past, we need you now more than ever. I need you to trust me like I am going to trust you… Leo, Luna, Yusei—all of them trust you wether you already know it." I am not sure when I developed nearly perfect orator skills, but I was not going to complain at the moment. I smiled a little to myself and sipped my coffee, "We are friends." I rolled down my long sleeve to show her my mark.

"Friends." She repeated and that light in her eye made me happy; I did something right and I was glad about it, "Thank you, Cristina."

"Don't thank me, thank Yusei and Leo. I think they are beginning to rub off of me." I joked as she let out a small giggle, "I'm not sure if it is for better or for worse."

"Even so, thank you. And thank you for the tea and pastry." I nodded at her words and swallowed my coffee. Something caught the corner of my eye as I raised an eyebrow.

"You weirdo. Were you just watching the whole time?" I gave Yusei a teasing glare as he walked over to us.

"I didn't mean to. Besides, I felt like whatever I was going to say was already said by you." Yusei crossed his arms over his chest, a smile playing on his lips.

"Well, what do you know, I must be a psychic." I said with a wink, Akza stifling a chuckle.

"I am sure the better term is telepathic, Cristina."

"Look at that, this coffee is just like you Yusei—bland."

* * *

><p>My god, I can't believe I ignored the story for so long...SHAME ON MEE. FOR SHAME. I will try my best to bring it back to its glory and beautifulness.~<p>

Merry Christmas~

Xoxbattleangel~


	27. Chapter 26

Cristina POV

"It's like this man is isolating himself from everyone." I mumbled, peering out the window and seeing nothing but the ocean as far as my eye could see. I huffed lightly and crossed my arms over my chest in annoyance. I knew Goodwin had money and fortune, but did he have to use it in such a grand way? Looking over, I saw that Goodwin's use of money was the last thing on my companions' mind and I should follow in suit.

When we finally reached the house, it was all you could think of when associating with a mansion. There was a large water fountain in the center with statues of angels. The grass was trimmed and the different array of flowers were all aligned without a single one standing out of the crowd.

"Woah, this mansion's huge. Is this Director Goodwin's house?" Leo asked. He could barely hide his amazement if he even tried. I reached down and ruffled his hair.

"You going to buy me a mansion in compensation of babysitting you for all these years, right?" I teased before the look of amazement turned into disbelief and rebellious. He pushed my hand away and stuck his nose high up in the air.

"No way! All the money is for me and Luna. I'd buy you a small shack and that's it." He replied making me sigh a little, but smiling my focus from Leo, I watched as the large brown doors were opened with an eerie feeling and Goodwin emerging from it.

"I have been expecting you all." Goodwin said, hands behinds his back and such a straight posture. He meant business, that's one thing for certain, "Welcome, Signers, one and all…Although it was done in a very roundabout manner, I feel please that I am finally able to meet you all like this." I scoffed at his politeness.

"You're shady to the core." Jack belittled as Goodwin didn't reply. I could feel some anger from that guy as if he was holding a grudge.

"Yusei, why are we here?" Aliza whispered with slight suspicion, "Didn't Goodwin take your friends hostage and force you into participating in the Fortune Cup…? And you're just going to trust him?"

That was true. Me and Luna were brought in without any clarification on why we were chosen. We thought it was at random, but when asking the others in the apartment, none of them said they received anything like it. It was strange and I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into, but now I know. Yusei was just dragged into it without no choice. If I was him, I'm pretty sure I'd go up to Goodwin and punch that innocent look off his face.

"No, I can't stand for what Goodwin's done up until now, but the world is now on the verge of destruction due to some phenomenon…there's no one else besides Goodwin who knows the truth behind it all." Yusei explained as I couldn't help, but frown.

"Goodwin doesn't seem the type to lay all his cards out right in front of us. He could be playing us the moment we stepped onto his property." I argued with slight contempt, "You're risking your own safety for something you're not sure about."

Yusei looked over to me and smirked before saying, "You're not the type to care about safety, Cristina. Do I need to remind you about your obsession with knives?"

"I mean, I managed to keep Leo and Luna alive without loosing my head; that counts for something." I boasted, watching as he shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips, "Besides my lack of safety had saved your behind if I recall."

"Hey, tell us. What do you want from us?" Leo demanded as I cursed the heavens for the child's bluntness. Goodwin looked down with a disapproving look.

"I don't remember inviting you." He said, staring Leo down hard, startling Leo.

"C'mon! Don't be so strict." Leo reasoned, trying to play it off, but Goodwin was taking none of his funny business.

"I have no business with anyone who is not a Signer. I kindly request that you leave–"

"He's staying." I interrupted quickly, going behind Leo and glaring at Goodwin, challenging him to try and defy me. Wherever I go, this brat goes. Unless it's going to some dangerous place, then no.

"I won't go unless I'm with Leo." Luna added to my point. Looking at the three of us, Goodwin let out a sigh.

"There's no way around it, then." He grumbled as Leo let out a sigh of relief, "Now then, allow me to show you inside."

Goodwin led the pack as everyone soon followed after him. The outside of the mansion and it's beautiful hollywood type of scenery did not compare to the inside. It reminded me of one of those mansions where the rich enthusiast would buy everything that would be deemed antique and exquisite. I was eventually in awe and afraid at the same time. There was the overwhelming urge to run over to the beautiful patterns of some of the vases, but I was afraid that I was going to slip on some random thing– maybe dirt– and just break the vase into millions of pieces, forever indebted to Goodwin to pay it back. That was a scary scenario. The carpet was a deep red color, almost the color of wine and there was the pleasant smell of oranges within the air. There were no family portraits, which I am surprised about. Within big mansions, I would guess there would be one or two if the house was passed down generation to generation.

Goodwin turned a left and the confusion built up at the sight.

"You have an elevator…in your mansion…" I whispered with a slight disbelief, looking over to Goodwin, "Just…" I took a deep breath, glaring at the gray doors that have opened. Goodwin let everyone enter first before going in, pressing a single button. The shift made me aware that we were going down.

"What? No elevator music?" Leo joked before Luna elbowed him in the gut to quiet. Thank god she did that or else I would have given him a noogie; he's lucky that Goodwin didn't argue with me or Luna. With a slight beep, the door open and all I saw was dark yellow everywhere. Far beyond me was little candles on wither side. This looks straight out of some cheap-movie placed in some Egyptian tomb.

"Where are we going?" Luna questioned as that seemed to be the pressing question that needed to be answered and Goodwin bluntly ignored.

"The King has been led here once before." Goodwin informed all of us as he expected us to know.

"That was someone else. I'm no longer the King." Jack replied as I'm glad the superior complex he had was slowly being deterred, even if I wished it would have gone sooner than later.

"Then, I shall be as bold as to call you 'Jack Atlas' from now on." Goodwin mocked with a smirk, making Jack cringe before glaring.

There was a gate in front of us with symbols I honestly couldn't make out, but assumed to be some Egyptian hieroglyphics–glad for once that I actually paid attention to that part of History class. The doors shook slightly before opening us to pitch black. I grimaced at the thought of being in there, half of me assumed that Goodwin was going to lock us in there until we go insane.

As soon as I passed through, the doors closed and a little fear filled me, giving Goodwin an accusing glare. The crazy half of me was right for once

"Hey! What's the big idea–" Red light started to illuminate the floor as I breathed a small sense of relief. Goodwin wasn't going to torture us yet, swell. I saw a large structure within the center and the ceiling was filled with stars as if it was suddenly midnight. You don't see these type of stars over Neo Domino City. Just how the hell did Goodwin make this happen? Holograms? I wouldn't put it past him. He seems to have the money for everything from what I recently saw.

"That shape!" Yusei shouted. I looked to where everyone else was staring at and saw the mark that seems to link us together, "It's the same as our birthmarks." Luna added in.

"It's the Crismon Dragon." Leo muttered

"Yes, that is the symbol of the Signers that has been passed down as the legend of the People of the Stars." Goodwin announced before my Signer mark started to glow, along with everyone else's. What the hell is going on? I thought the mark only activated when we were dueling. I looked up, about to ask Goodwin a question before my eyes widen at the sight of a red dragon.

"The Crismon Dragon." Yusei said in such a tone that made me believe that he has seen the dragon beforehand, "That day, the Riding Duel we had in the empty Duel Stadium was supposed to be a battle with our prides at stake. But, that is where the Crimson Dragon showed up."

"Yeah, back then, you were both guided by the Crimson Dragon and arrived in Neo Domino City." Goodwin declared.

"We were guided by the dragon? i thought it was you who set it up!" Yusei objected as Goodwin looked blankly at us, not even deterred by the anger at him; balls of steel, I'll give him that.

"We were settling the score between us! The Crimson Dragon had nothing to do with it!" Jack argued. Did those two still have a score to settle? Now I thought about it, I never asked Yusei about how he actually ended up here in the first place. I kind of just accepted it as something that was completely normal.

"That in itself is the fate derived by the Crimson Dragon's power." Goodwin answered, "I myself did nothing more than conduct my actions according to the guidance of the Crimson Dragon."

"So pitting us against each other in the Fortune Cup? That was accordance to the Crimson Dragon?" I mocked, putting my hands on my hips, "Some of us could have gotten really hurt or worse." I was referring how Luna was brought into the Spirit world.

"I needed to bring all of you together, any means necessary." I rolled my eyes at his statement. He just has perfect answer for everything, doesn't he?

"You expect us to believe your story?" Yusei demanded, clenching his hands into fists.

"Whether you believe it or not is entirely up to you… However, so long as you remain Signers, you cannot escape from this fate. Never." Goodwin just knows how to lighten everything up. Despite his politeness, he is blunt and intimidating.

"The fate of Signers…" Akiza mumbled to herself. I watched as she stared at her mark with a mix of emotions, "My powers, which were feared and detested by all those around me, swelled more and more due to the flames of rage smoldering within me…"

"But, without those powers, none of you would have met, correct?" Goodwin received no answer from Akiza, "That birthmark is a mark bestowed upon duelists chosen by the Crimson Dragon. The fate of Signers joins each and everyone of your fates together and guides them all. That applies to you Luna and you too, Cristina." I gave him a pointed look and looked down at my mark. Is he telling me that me leaving my country to be here was just what the Dragon wanted and not by my own choosing? So much for free-will.

"You all share the same birthmark." Goodwin continued, "You were chosen as the reincarnations of the legendary Signers. Whether you like it or not, it was promised thousands of years ago that you would all encounter as so, while at the mercy of destiny."

"We were all going to end up in this position, meeting everyone else, whether we wanted it or not." I murmured to myself. We were all connected and brought together by the man herding us like sheep.

"H-hey, aren't you forgetting one key thing? Weren't there supposed to be six Signers?" Leo said as I looked dumbfounded at him; that thought didn't even cross my mind, "Where's the last one?"

"The other one was awakened long ago." Goodwin announced as I let out small gasp. Why aren't they here with us listening to this crazy shepherd preach? "When you find yourselves in real trouble, that person shall most likely appear, along with the Crimson Dragon."

"What does that even mean?" I demanded, taking a step forward before Yusei put hand on my shoulder, "But–! He–!"

"You shall know before long." Goodwin cryptically said before raising his hand and intense light shining. Just how the hell was he doing this? I closed my eyes until the lights stopped, looking down and jumping back. We were somewhere new and there were markings on the ground below us. "Thousands of years ago, the Crimson Dragon descended forth to this land and sealed the Incarnates of Evil within the earth. Those seals are referred to as the 'Naza Lines.' The truth of that has been forbidden history that was only allowed to be handed down to us. And recently there has been a bizarre phenomenon involving the geoglyphs suddenly disappearing off the Naza Plains–"

"Let me guess, it's because of the all those dark signers." I said, rationally catching up to all of this.

"Correct Miss Witen. They possess birthmarks, the symbols of the Dark Signers, similar to yourselves." Does that mean they were suppose to go against us? No matter what?

"These Dark Signers...You can't escape from the special field they create. Plus, their attacks will materialize and assault you." Yusei said as I saw first-hand of that. That was a dangerous first moment right there and unfortunately, not the last. "Furthermore, those Dark Synchro Monsters….Dark Synchro, which summons monsters whose levels turn negative due to a Dark Tuner. It's dueling that defies all logic."

"Yes, if our dueling is based on the power of life, then it would be appropriate to deem their dueling of the powers of the underworld." Goodwin pondered.

"Powers of the underworld?" Yusei asked.

"As you are aware, whenever a Dark Signer appears, a geoglyph will surely follow. Their arrival has no put all of Neo Domino City in a life-or-death crisis." Goodwin said as I could see the importance of our marks, but still…

"Yeah, I saw it clearly with my own eyes." Yusei spat out, "I saw a slew of people become their victims in Satellite. Sacrifices!"

"What stops them from making Neo Domino City just one big grave site and moving to the next city?" I said somberly, tugging on my glove.

"It is safe to say that their actions have already exceeded my calculations. Actually, the geoglyphs appeared in the city, as well, and produced many casualties." The setting changed to the familiar geoglphys that I saw Yusei go against Kalin. I didn't realize that the city was affected by it… "The phenomenon you saw with your very own eyes, in Satellite, also occurred in the city. Because of the monsters that appeared from the geoglyphs, hundreds of people that were in their vicinity are... currently unaccounted for."

"Don't beat around the bush. They are dead because of these duels we have with them." I lashed out with anger. There was nothing we could do to stop this... massacre. We just need to finish the duel as quickly as possible.

Suddenly, right below us, large creatures started to materialize; one looked like a lizard and the other was a flying bird of some type. I don't know and I honestly don't care. They have caused too much havoc.

"Those are Earthbound Gods?" Goodwin nodded at Yusei's question.

"Yes, the Earthbound Gods are the Dark Signers' Gods who are summoned by sacrificing people." Goodwin explained. I just wished he told us before…anything of the mass sacrifices happened, "This situation requires immediate action. If we just stand idly by, all of those residents of the city and Satellite will fall into the Dark Signers' clutches. Neo Domino city will collapse if we don't act…"

"When you say all the people of the city and Satellite…" Luna started.

"...You mean Dexter, Yanagi, and anyone else we are close too?" Leo finished.

"You are the only ones who can defeat the Dark Signers and free Neo Domino City from its doom."

"Screw this fate crap!" Jack yelled, "I myself decide what I should do!"

"You don't have a say in this matter. You are all in this together. You need each other…" Goodwin replied in a matter-of-fact tone, making Jack even more angry.

"Goodwin, there's one more thing I have to ask you. When I returned to Satellite, a man who I thought had always died—a man who was one my friend—appeared before me as a Dark Signer." Yusei must be talking about that Kalin guy, "His name was Kalin," I guessed corrected, "He was once the leader of the same dueling team as me and Jack. He had immense power and his one-hindered eyes dragon had incredible powers as well. He…he sacrificed that monster in order to summon a deadly one. One that would need to use the people of Satellite as its sacrifice. It was an Earthbound God. It was an unbelievable beast that wasn't affected by magic or traps cards. It couldn't be attacked by monsters. If it wasn't for my bike breaking, I would have died… How did Kalin become a Dark Signer…?"

"Answer the question! Where do the Dark Signer come from!?" Jack howled out. There was such an intense silence after, I was thinking this may be one question Goodwin doesn't have an answer too. That was the scary part.

"It may be better if you did not know–"

"Bullshit! Yusei and I are going to be have a life-or-death duel with a man we once called a friend! We need to know!"

"And I am fully prepared to give my life into stopping the Dark Signers and saving the Satellite! But, if there's a way to return Kalin and the other back to normal…" Yusei asked, possibly hope in his eyes that he could save his ex-friend from the dark path.

"There's not a way." Goodwin quickly stated, "There is no way to return people turned into Dark Signers back into their former selves."

"What do you mean?" Yusei persisted as Goodwin sighed.

"Dark Signers are... the souls of the dead who have awakened to their abilities. They are no longer of this world." Goodwin said as a shock went through me and most likely everyone else. Spirits…? They are spirits.

"Kalin is already dead…" Yusei faced the harsh reality. I thought about putting a hand on his shoulder, but maybe I should wait until a better time to comfort him.

"Impossible! Someone who is dead can't come back to life!" Jack countered, but with what has been told to us… it doesn't seem too impossible.

"Yes, it's possible. That unbelievable phenomenon on the other side of the doorway of the underworld. A Dark Synchro Monster's level as Yusei mentioned earlier can become negative. That should be proof that they are not from this world. Destiny is in motion and you cannot turn back.

Either you leave the world to perish or you defeat the Dark Signers. The decision is in your hands. But choose quickly for we do not have much time." Goodwin explained, leaving all of us to ponder.

I watched as Goodwin left us before looking down at my mark. No choice to accept our destiny...


End file.
